Modeling of an industrial automation environment in the cloud

ABSTRACT

A cloud-based modeler component that generates interactive models of an industrial automation system(s) (IAS(s)) is presented. An interactive model facilitates remote viewing of, interaction with, troubleshooting of problems with, or optimization of industrial assets of an IAS. The modeler component polls industrial assets via cloud gateways to obtain information relating to the industrial assets to identify industrial assets of the IAS and relationships with other industrial assets or can receive information from a communication device that obtains information relating to legacy industrial assets to identify those legacy assets and their relationships. The modeler component generates an interactive model of the industrial assets of the IAS based on the information. The modeler component also can discover new industrial assets added to the IAS, can receive a pre-deployed model of an industrial asset from the industrial asset or another source, and can incorporate the pre-deployed model in the interactive model.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to each of,U.S. Pat. Application No. 16/599,276, filed Oct. 11, 2019, and entitled“MODELING OF AN INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION ENVIRONMENT IN THE CLOUD,” whichis a continuation of U.S. Pat. Application No. 14/658,327 (now U.S. Pat.No. 10,496,061), filed Mar. 16, 2015, and entitled “MODELING OF ANINDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION ENVIRONMENT IN THE CLOUD,” the entireties of whichapplications are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject application relates generally to industrial automation,e.g., to modeling of an industrial automation environment in the cloud.

BACKGROUND

Industrial controllers and their associated input/output (I/O) devicescan be useful to the operation of modern industrial automation systems.These industrial controllers can interact with field devices on theplant floor to control automated processes relating to such objectivesas product manufacture, material handling, batch processing, supervisorycontrol, and other such applications. Industrial controllers can storeand execute user-defined control programs to effect decision-making inconnection with the controlled process. Such programs can include, butare not limited to, ladder logic, sequential function charts, functionblock diagrams, structured text, or other such programming structures.In general, industrial controllers can read input data from sensors andmetering devices that can provide discreet and telemetric data regardingone or more states of the controlled system, and can generate controloutputs based on these inputs in accordance with the user-definedprogram.

In addition to industrial controllers and their associated I/O devices,some industrial automation systems also can include low-level controlsystems, such as vision systems, barcode marking systems, variablefrequency drives, industrial robots, and the like, which can performlocal control of portions of the industrial process, or which can havetheir own localized control systems.

During operation of a given industrial automation system, comprising acollection of industrial devices, industrial processes, other industrialassets, and network-related assets, users (e.g., operators, technicians,maintenance personnel, etc.) typically can monitor or manage operationsof the industrial automation system, perform maintenance, repairs, orupgrades on the industrial automation system, or perform other tasks inconnection with operation of the industrial automation system. Theabove-described description of today’s industrial control and businesssystems is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of relatingto conventional industrial automation systems, and is not intended to beexhaustive.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects described herein. This summary is not anextensive overview nor is intended to identify key/critical elements orto delineate the scope of the various aspects described herein. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

Various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter relateto the use of data analysis in a cloud platform to facilitategenerating, updating, or using a model of an industrial automationsystem that can correspond to the industrial automation system and itsrespective constituent components (e.g., industrial devices, otherindustrial assets, network-related devices), and the respectiverelationships (e.g., functional relationships, geographicalrelationships) between the respective constituent components. A modelercomponent can be employed to generate (e.g., create) the model. Themodel can be a multi-dimensional (e.g., three-dimensional (3-D) ortwo-dimensional (2-D)) model that can facilitate presenting amulti-dimensional view (e.g., 3-D view or 2-D view) of the industrialautomation system.

In some implementations, the industrial devices or network-relateddevices of the industrial automation system can be integrated with orassociated with cloud gateway devices that can facilitate communicationof data (e.g., industrial-automation-system-related data,network-related data) from the industrial devices or network-relateddevices to the cloud platform (e.g., the collection component of thecloud platform) for analysis by the modeler component and/or thevirtualization component. For a given device (e.g., industrial device,network-related device), the data can comprise a pre-deployed model ofan industrial device or network-related device that can be stored onsuch device, identifier information that can facilitate identifying thetype, model, manufacturer, etc., of such device, information relating torelationships between such device and another device(s), operationaldata associated with such device, specification information associatedwith such device, or other information that can be used to facilitatemodeling such device to facilitate modeling the industrial automationsystem. With regard to legacy devices (e.g., legacy industrial device,legacy network-related device) that may not be integrated or associatedwith a cloud gateway component, a communication device can be employedto facilitate inventorying the respective legacy devices. Thecommunication device can capture (e.g., via a camera) physicalinformation (e.g., shape, inputs, outputs, size) relating to such legacydevice, identifier information regarding such legacy device (e.g., asprovided on an identifier plate on the legacy device), informationrelating to relationships between such legacy device and anotherdevice(s), operational information associated with such legacy device,or other information that can be used to facilitate modeling such legacydevice to facilitate modeling the industrial automation system.

A virtualization component can generate a virtualized industrialautomation system that can correspond to the industrial automationsystem based at least in part on the model. The virtualized industrialautomation system can be a multi-dimensional (e.g., 3-D or 2-D)virtualized industrial automation system that can present amulti-dimensional virtualized view (e.g., 3-D view or 2-D view) of anindustrial automation system, or can be a virtualized dashboard view ofthe industrial automation system. The virtualized industrial automationsystem, which can be presented (e.g., displayed) on a communicationdevice of a user, can be interfaced with the industrial automationsystem to facilitate interaction with (e.g., facilitate remotemonitoring of, tracking of, controlling of, etc.) the industrialautomation system in response to interaction with the virtualizedindustrial automation system using the communication device. The modelercomponent and virtualization component can reside on a cloud platform.The modeler component and virtualization component can employ acollection component (e.g., a cloud-based collection component) that cancollect industrial-automation-system-related data from one or moreindustrial automation systems of one or more industrial customers forstorage (e.g., in a cloud-based data store) and analysis on the cloudplatform.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certainillustrative aspects are described herein in connection with thefollowing description and the annexed drawings. These aspects areindicative of various ways which can be practiced, all of which areintended to be covered herein. Other advantages and novel features maybecome apparent from the following detailed description when consideredin conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that canfacilitate generation and management of a model that can correspond toan industrial automation system associated with an industrial enterprisebased at least in part on cloud-based data relating to the industrialenterprise, in accordance with various implementations and embodimentsof the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an example system that can employ amodel of an industrial automation system associated with an industrialenterprise based at least in part on cloud-based data relating to theindustrial enterprise to generate a virtualized industrial automationsystem, in accordance with various implementations and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that canfacilitate performing an inventory of assets of an industrial automationsystem to facilitate modeling and virtualization of the industrialautomation system, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of an example system that can facilitateidentifying a user or device that is attempting to obtain an InternetProtocol (IP) address associated with an industrial automation system,in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a high-level overview of anexample industrial enterprise that can leverage cloud-based services,including modeling and virtualization services, data collectionservices, and data storage services, in accordance with various aspectsand embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 6 presents a block diagram of an exemplary modeler component (e.g.,cloud-based, or partially cloud-based, modeler component) according tovarious implementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram of an example system that can facilitategeneration of a model of an industrial automation system or avirtualized industrial automation system that can be representative ofthe industrial automation system, and the performance of othermodel-related or virtualization-related services based at least in partcollection of customer-specific industrial data by a cloud-based modelsystem or virtualization system, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram of an example hierarchical relationshipbetween these example data classes.

FIG. 9 depicts a block diagram of an example system that can beconfigured to comprise an industrial device that can act or operate as acloud proxy for other industrial devices of an industrial automationsystem to facilitate migrating industrial data to the cloud platform forclassification and analysis by a modeler system and a virtualizationsystem, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of thedisclosed subject matter.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that can employa firewall box that can serve as a cloud proxy for a set of industrialdevices to facilitate migrating industrial data to the cloud platformfor classification and analysis by a modeler system and a virtualizationsystem, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of thedisclosed subject matter.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example device model accordingto various aspects and implementations of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 12 presents a block diagram of an example system that canfacilitate collection of data from devices and assets associated withrespective industrial automation systems for storage in cloud-based datastorage, in accordance with various aspects and implementations of thedisclosed subject matter.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a cloud-based system that canemploy a modeler system and virtualization system to facilitateperforming or providing model-related services andvirtualization-related services associated with industrial automationsystems, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method that canfacilitate generating and managing a model that can correspond to anindustrial automation system associated with an industrial enterprisebased at least in part on cloud-based data relating to the industrialenterprise, in accordance with various implementations and embodimentsof the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 15 depicts a flow diagram of another example method that canfacilitate generating and managing a model that can correspond to anindustrial automation system associated with an industrial enterprisebased at least in part on cloud-based data relating to the industrialenterprise, in accordance with various implementations and embodimentsof the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 16 presents a flow diagram of an example method that can generateand provide a virtualized industrial automation system based on a modelof an industrial automation system, in accordance with variousimplementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 17 presents a flow diagram of an example method that can modify amodel of an industrial automation system in response to a change made tothe industrial automation system, in accordance with variousimplementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 18 depicts a flow diagram of an example method that, in response toa change made to an industrial automation system, can use a model of theindustrial automation system to facilitate modification of anotherportion of the industrial automation system, in accordance with variousimplementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 19 presents a flow diagram of an example method that can employ apre-deployed model associated with an industrial asset to facilitategenerating or updating a model of an industrial automation system, inaccordance with various implementations and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter.

FIG. 20 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method that cantranslate configuration information relating to an industrial asset to aformat that is compatible with the industrial asset, in accordance withvarious implementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 21 is an example computing and/or operating environment.

FIG. 22 is an example computing and/or networking environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure is now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the subjectdisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to facilitate a description thereof.

Industrial automation systems can perform various processes to producedesired products or processed materials. An industrial automation systemcan comprise various industrial devices, industrial processes, otherindustrial assets, and network-related assets (e.g., communicationnetwork devices and software). During operation of a given industrialautomation system, users, such as, for example, operators, technicians,maintenance personnel, typically can monitor or manage operations of theindustrial automation system, perform maintenance, repairs, or upgradeson the industrial automation system, or perform other tasks inconnection with operation of the industrial automation system.

To that end, presented are various systems, methods, and techniques ofthe disclosed subject matter that relate to the use of data analysis(e.g., big data analysis) in a cloud platform to facilitate generatingmodel, and/or a virtualized industrial automation system, of anindustrial automation system. The model and/or virtualized industrialautomation system (e.g., multi-dimensional model and/ormulti-dimensional virtualized industrial automation system) can be usedto facilitate interacting with (e.g., facilitate remote monitoringoperation of, tracking operation of, controlling operation of, etc., viaa communication device) the industrial automation system, and providinguser’s with an augmented reality, unique (e.g., role-centric)information overlays, and information sharing capabilities in connectionwith the model, associated virtualized industrial automation system, andassociated industrial automation system.

The disclosed subject matter can comprise a cloud-based modelercomponent that can generate interactive models of industrial automationsystems. An interactive model can facilitate remote viewing of,interaction with, troubleshooting of problems with, or optimization ofindustrial assets (e.g., industrial devices, industrial processes, orother industrial assets) and network-related devices of an industrialautomation system. The modeler component can poll industrial assetsand/or network-related devices via cloud gateways (e.g., integrated orotherwise associated cloud gateway components) to obtain informationrelating to the industrial assets and/or network-related devices toidentify industrial assets and/or network-related devices of theindustrial automation system and relationships with other industrialassets or network-related devices. With regard to legacy equipment of anindustrial automation system, the modeler component can receiveinformation from a communication device that can obtain informationrelating to legacy industrial assets to identify those legacy assets andtheir relationships. The modeler component can generate an interactivemodel of the industrial assets of the industrial automation system basedat least in part on the information obtained from the industrial assets,network-related devices, and/or the communication device. The modelercomponent also can discover new industrial assets added to theindustrial automation system, can receive a pre-deployed model of anindustrial asset from the industrial asset or another source, and canincorporate the pre-deployed model in the interactive model.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“platform,” “layer,” “controller,” “terminal,” “station,” “node,”“interface” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity or anentity related to, or that is part of, an operational apparatus with oneor more specific functionalities, wherein such entities can be eitherhardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or softwarein execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited tobeing, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive,multiple storage drives (of optical or magnetic storage medium)including affixed (e.g., screwed or bolted) or removably affixedsolid-state storage drives; an object; an executable; a thread ofexecution; a computer-executable program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a server and the server canbe a component. One or more components can reside within a processand/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also,components as described herein can execute from various computerreadable storage media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry which is operated by asoftware or a firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can include a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that provides at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. As further yet another example, interface(s)can include input/output (I/O) components as well as associatedprocessor, application, or application programming interface (API)components. While the foregoing examples are directed to aspects of acomponent, the exemplified aspects or features also apply to a system,platform, interface, layer, controller, terminal, and the like.

As used herein, the terms “to infer” and “inference” refer generally tothe process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system,environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured viaevents and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic-that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom the context, the phrase “X employs A or B” is intended to mean anyof the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the phrase “X employs Aor B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; Xemploys B; or X employs both A and B. In addition, the articles “a” and“an” as used in this application and the appended claims shouldgenerally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwiseor clear from the context to be directed to a singular form.

Furthermore, the term “set” as employed herein excludes the empty set;e.g., the set with no elements therein. Thus, a “set” in the subjectdisclosure includes one or more elements or entities. As anillustration, a set of controllers includes one or more controllers; aset of data resources includes one or more data resources; etc.Likewise, the term “group” as utilized herein refers to a collection ofone or more entities; e.g., a group of nodes refers to one or morenodes.

Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems thatmay include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. Itis to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may includeadditional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include allof the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection withthe figures. A combination of these approaches also can be used.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 100 (e.g., amodeler system) that can facilitate generation and management of a model(e.g., a plant model) that can correspond to an industrial automationsystem associated with an industrial enterprise based at least in parton cloud-based data relating to the industrial enterprise, in accordancewith various implementations and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter. The model generated and managed by the system 100 can bemaintained and updated (e.g., automatically or dynamically, in real ornear real time) to reflect any changes to the industrial automationsystem upon which the model is based.

The system 100 can include a modeler component 102 (e.g., a cloud-basedmodeler component) that can facilitate generation and management of amodel 104 that can correspond to an industrial automation system 106based at least in part on data (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related data) obtained from the industrialautomation system 106, another industrial automation system(s), or fromother sources (e.g., extrinsic sources), in accordance with definedmodeling criteria.

The modeler component 102 can employ and provide a variety of servicesincluding a cloud-based model generation service. As part of providingcloud-based model generation service, the modeler component 102 canperform data analysis (e.g., big data analysis) in a cloud platform tofacilitate generating the model 104 of the industrial automation system106 that can be used to facilitate interacting with (e.g., remotelymonitoring operation of, tracking operation of, controlling operationof, troubleshooting problems with, providing assistance relating to,etc., via a communication device) the industrial automation system 106.As more fully disclosed herein, the modeler component 102, as part ofproviding the cloud-based model generation service, can employ acollection component 108 (e.g., data collection component) that cancollect industrial-automation-system-related data from one or moreindustrial automation systems (e.g., 106) of one or more industrialcustomers (e.g., industrial enterprises) for storage (e.g., in acloud-based data store) and analysis (e.g., by the modeler component102) on a cloud platform. The collection component 108 can be associatedwith (e.g., interfaced with and/or communicatively connected to) theindustrial automation system 106 associated with an industrialenterprise.

The industrial automation system 106 can comprise one or more industrialdevices 110, industrial processes 112, or other industrial assets 114that can be distributed throughout an industrial facility(ies) inaccordance with a desired industrial-automation-system configuration.The industrial automation system 106 can perform industrial processes orother actions to facilitate producing desired products, processedmaterials, etc., as an output.

The industrial automation system 106 also can include a networkcomponent 116 that can be associated with (e.g., integrated with,interfaced with, and/or communicatively connected to) the variousindustrial devices 110, industrial processes 112, and/or otherindustrial assets 114 of the industrial automation system 106 tofacilitate communication of information (e.g., command or controlinformation, status information, production information, etc.) betweenthe various industrial devices 110, industrial processes 112, and/orother industrial assets 114 via the network component 116. The networkcomponent 116, and/or all or a portion of the industrial device 110 orother industrial assets 114, can be associated with (e.g., interfacedwith, communicatively connected to) the collection component 108 tofacilitate the communication of data between the industrial automationsystem 106 and the collection component 108. The network component 116can comprise network-related devices (e.g., communication devices,routers (e.g., wireline or wireless routers), switches, etc.), whereinrespective network-related devices can be connected to or interfacedwith certain other network-related devices to form a communicationnetwork having a desired communication network configuration. In someimplementations, one or more network-related devices of the networkcomponent 116 can be connected to or interfaced with one or moreindustrial devices 110, industrial processes 112, and/or otherindustrial assets 114 to facilitate collecting data (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related data) from the one or moreindustrial devices 110, industrial processes 112, and/or otherindustrial assets 114 or communicating information (e.g., controlsignals, parameter data, configuration data, etc.) to the one or moreindustrial devices 110, industrial processes 112, and/or otherindustrial assets 114.

The modeler component 102 can monitor or track the operation of theindustrial automation system 106, including monitoring and tracking therespective operations of respective industrial devices 110, industrialprocesses 112, industrial assets 114, and/or network-related devices ofthe network component 116, and monitoring and tracking the configurationof the industrial automation system 106. The collection component 108can receive, obtain, detect, or collect data relating to the operationand configuration of the industrial automation system 106, as desired(e.g., automatically, dynamically, or continuously, in real or near realtime), in accordance with the defined modeling criteria. For example,the collection component 108 can receive data relating to the industrialdevices 110 (e.g., operation, status, or configurations of theindustrial devices, properties or characteristics of the industrialdevices, maintenance records of the industrial devices, etc.),industrial processes 112 (e.g., operation, status, or configurations ofthe industrial processes, properties or characteristics of theindustrial processes, maintenance records associated with the industrialprocesses, etc.), and the other industrial assets 114 (e.g., operation,status, or configurations of the industrial assets, properties orcharacteristics of the industrial assets, maintenance records associatedwith the industrial assets, etc.). The collection component 108 also canreceive or collect data relating to operation of the sub-components(e.g., network-related devices) of the network component 116 (e.g.,operation or status of the network devices or assets, communicationconditions associated with a communication channel, total bandwidth of acommunication channel, available bandwidth of a communication channel,properties or characteristics of the network devices or assets,maintenance records associated with the network devices or assets,configurations of the network devices or assets, etc.).

The modeler component 102 also can comprise a data store 118 that can beassociated with (e.g., interfaced with, communicatively connected to)the collection component 108. The collection component 108 can provide(e.g., communicate, write, etc.) the data received or collected from theindustrial automation system 106 and the network component 116 to thedata store 118 for storage in the data store 118.

The modeler component 102 can comprise a model management component 120that can generate an interactive model(s) 104 of one or more industrialautomation systems 106 (e.g., of an industrial plant environment(s)). Insome implementations, the model management component 120 can facilitateproviding cloud-based services (e.g., modeling services, troubleshootingservices, optimization services, remote viewing or controlling services,and/or other cloud-based services) to users and an industrial automationsystem(s) 106. Users (e.g., operators, technicians, maintenancepersonnel, supervisors, information technology (IT) personnel, or otherplant personnel) can interact with a model 104 (e.g., interactivemodel), or a virtualized industrial automation system generated based onthe model 104, of an industrial automation system(s) to perform variouswork tasks, functions, and/or operations, etc. For instance, a user caninteract with the model 104 or the corresponding virtualized industrialautomation system to facilitate remote viewing of, interaction with,troubleshooting of problems with, controlling operation of, and/oroptimization of industrial assets (e.g., industrial devices 110,industrial processes 112, other assets 114) or the network component 116of the industrial automation system(s) 106.

The industrial assets (e.g., industrial devices 110, industrialprocesses 112, other assets 114) and network-related components of thenetwork component 116 of an industrial automation system(s) 106 can beequipped with or associated with components, tools, functions, etc.,that can allow the model management component 120 to inventory suchindustrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) and network-related componentsfrom the cloud and generate a model 104 of the industrial automationsystem(s) 106 based at least in part on such inventory. The modelmanagement component 120 can poll (e.g., request information from)industrial assets, such as industrial devices 110, industrial processes112, or other industrial assets 114, and/or network-related componentsof the network component 116 via cloud gateway components (not shown inFIG. 1 ) to facilitate obtaining information regarding the industrialassets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related components of thenetwork component 116 from the industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114)or network-related components. For example, an industrial asset (e.g.,110, 112, 114) and/or a network-related component of the networkcomponent 116 can comprise (e.g., be integrated with) or be associatedwith a cloud gateway component that can enable the industrial asset(e.g., 110, 112, 114) and/or network-related component to communicatewith the modeler component 102 in the cloud to facilitate the modelmanagement component 120 discovering, obtaining information from, and/ormodeling the industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, 114) and/ornetwork-related component of the network component 116, which canprovide such information to the modeler component 102 or collectioncomponent 108. The information can comprise, for example, identificationinformation (e.g., identifiers) that can identify an industrial asset(e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related component and/or can identifywhat other industrial asset(s) is in proximity to it (e.g., within adefined distance (e.g., 1 inch, ... , 1 foot, ..., 1 yard, ... , 10feet, ...) of the industrial asset) or related to it, configurationinformation that can identify a configuration of an industrial asset(e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related component, contextualinformation relating to an industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, 114) ornetwork-related component, information relating functional orgeographical relationships between industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112,114) or between an industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, 114) and anetwork-related component of the network component 116, informationrelating to a layout (e.g., functional layout, logic layout,geographical layout) of an industrial automation system 106,communication network connections, or other information.

The model management component 120 also can determine whether a set ofindustrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, and/or 114) are related to each otherbased at least in part on determining that the set of devices wereacquired by the industrial enterprise associated with the industrialautomation system 106 at or near the same time (e.g., at the same timeor within a defined period of time of each other (e.g., within a day,within a week, ...) of each other). For example, if a first industrialdevice, a second industrial device, and a third industrial device areacquired on a particular date, based at least in part on thisacquisition information and/or other information (e.g., respectivefunction-related information for the three industrial devices), themodel management component 120 can determine or infer that the firstindustrial device, second industrial device, and third industrial deviceare related to each other (e.g., are part of a same or relatedindustrial process 112) (unless certain information indicates that thesethree devices are not related to each other), and can generate or updatethe model 104 based at least in part on such relation between thesethree industrial devices.

In some implementations, an industrial automation system 106 can containlegacy industrial assets (e.g., legacy industrial devices or otherlegacy industrial assets) or legacy network-related components that donot comprise or are not directly associated with a cloud gatewaycomponent. A legacy identifier component 122 can be associated with(e.g., attached to, connected to, interfaced with) a legacy industrialasset (e.g., an industrial device 110, industrial process 112, or otherindustrial asset 114 that is a legacy industrial asset) or legacynetwork-related component (e.g., a network-related component (of thenetwork component 116) that is a legacy network-related device) tofacilitate maintaining and providing (e.g., communicating) informationto the cloud via a cloud gateway component to facilitate modeling thelegacy industrial asset or legacy network-related component with whichthe legacy identifier component 122 is associated. For instance, alegacy identifier component 122 can be associated with a legacyindustrial device 110 _(l) (as depicted). The legacy identifiercomponent 122 can be connected to or interfaced with the legacyindustrial device 110 _(l), and via such connecting or interfacing, thelegacy identifier component 122 can monitor, sense, determine, ormeasure parameters associated with operation of the legacy industrialdevice 110 _(l) or can otherwise obtain information relating to theoperation of the legacy industrial device 110 _(l). The legacyidentifier component 122 can communicate information (e.g., parameterinformation, other operation-related information) relating to theoperation of the legacy industrial device 110 _(l) to the cloud (e.g.,the modeler component 102, the collection component 108) via the cloudgateway component associated with the legacy identifier component 122.

The legacy identifier component 122 also can provide other informationregarding the legacy industrial device 110 _(l). For instance, using aninterface (e.g., a keyboard, a touchscreen display, a mouse) on thelegacy identifier component 122, or using an interface of acommunication device 124 associated with (e.g., connected via a wired orwireless connection to) the legacy identifier component 122, information(e.g., identification information) that can identify the manufacturer,model number, serial number, of the legacy industrial device 110 _(l),information (e.g., specification information) regarding thespecifications of the legacy industrial device 110 _(l), and/or otherinformation relating to the legacy industrial device 110 _(l) can beinput to and stored in a data store (not shown) of the legacy identifiercomponent 122. The legacy identifier component 122 can communicate theidentification information, specification information, and/or otherinformation relating to the legacy industrial device 110 _(l) to thecloud (e.g., the modeler component 102, the collection component 108)via the associated cloud gateway component. The model managementcomponent 120 can analyze the information relating to the operation ofthe legacy industrial device 110 _(l), identification informationrelating to the legacy industrial device 110 _(l), specificationinformation relating to the legacy industrial device 110 _(l), and/orother information relating to the legacy industrial device 110 _(l) tofacilitate modeling the legacy industrial device 110 _(l) based at leastin part on such information.

In certain implementations, with regard to legacy industrial assets orlegacy network-related components that do not comprise or are notdirectly associated with a cloud gateway component, in addition to or asan alternative to employing the legacy identifier component 122, acommunication device 124 (e.g., a handheld communication device), suchas a computer (e.g., a laptop computer), a mobile phone (e.g., a smartphone or other type of cellular phone), an electronic tablet, electroniceyeglasses (e.g., electronic eyeglasses (e.g., smart glasses) withcomputing and communication functionality), or other type ofcommunication device, can be employed to facilitate inventorying andcollecting information relating to such legacy industrial assets orlegacy network-related components. The communication device 124 can scanlegacy industrial assets or legacy network-related components to obtaininformation relating to the legacy industrial assets or legacynetwork-related components to include in the model 104. Thecommunication device 124 can comprise a camera that can be used to takeone or more pictures of legacy industrial assets, legacy network-relatedcomponents, other industrial assets or network-related components inproximity to the legacy industrial assets or legacy network-relatedcomponents, and/or an area of the plant in proximity to a legacyindustrial asset or legacy network-related component. For instance, thecommunication device 124 can take a picture of nameplate or otheridentifier information on a legacy industrial asset or legacynetwork-related component to facilitate identifying the legacyindustrial asset or legacy network-related component. The communicationdevice 124 can comprise a recognizer component (not shown in FIG. 1 )that can recognize (e.g. using pattern or optical character recognition(OCR) recognition) or identify the legacy industrial asset or legacynetwork-related component based at least in part on information obtainedvia the photograph. Information relating to legacy industrial assets orlegacy network-related components also can be input to the communicationdevice 124 by a user via a keyboard, keypad, or audio interface (e.g., amicrophone that receives information from the user via the user’svoice).

The communication device 124 can interface with the cloud (e.g., via awireline or wireless communication connection), including with themodeler component 102, to communicate (e.g., migrate) the informationrelating to legacy industrial assets or legacy network-relatedcomponents to the modeler component 102. The collection component 108can collect the information relating to the legacy industrial assets orlegacy network-related components, and can facilitate storing thisinformation in the data store 118.

The model management component 120 can model the industrial automationsystem 106, including modeling industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114),legacy industrial assets, network-related components (e.g., of thenetwork component 116), and/or legacy network-related components, basedat least in part on the respective information obtained from theindustrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114), network component 116, legacyidentifier component 122, and/or communication device 124, to generatethe interactive model 104 (e.g., a data-rich interactive model) of theindustrial automation system 106. To facilitate generating a model 104that can correspond to and be associated with (e.g., can interact or beinterfaced with) the industrial automation system 106, the modelmanagement component 120 can access the data store 118 (e.g.,cloud-based data store) to obtain a set of data relating to theindustrial automation system 106 and/or another industrial automationsystem (e.g., another system comprising an industrial device(s),process(es), and/or asset(s) that can be the same or similar to anindustrial device(s) 110, process(es) 112, and/or asset(s) 114 of theindustrial automation system 106). The set of data can compriseinformation relating to, for example, the respective properties,characteristics, functions, configurations, etc., of respectiveindustrial devices 110, industrial processes 112, other industrialassets 114, or network-related devices of the network component 116; orthe configuration of industrial devices 110, industrial processes 112,and/or other industrial assets 114 in relation to each other. Forexample, the properties or characteristics for industrial devices 110 orindustrial processes 112 can comprise mechanical or process propertiesor characteristics associated with industrial devices or processes(e.g., mechanical latency, process cycle times, operating schedules,etc., associated with industrial devices). As another example, theproperties or characteristics for network-related devices can comprisecommunication properties or characteristics (e.g., wireless and/orwireline communication functionality, type(s) of network orcommunication protocol(s), network or communication specifications,total bandwidth, etc.) of the respective network-related devices.

The set of data also can comprise information relating to, for example,the configuration of the network-related devices in relation to eachother, or the configuration of network-related devices in relation tothe industrial devices 110, industrial processes 112, and/or otherindustrial assets 114; software, firmware, and/or operating systemutilized by the industrial automation system 106 (e.g., type(s),version(s), revision(s), configuration(s), etc., of the software,firmware, and/or operating system); functional and communicativerelationships between industrial devices 110, industrial processes 112,industrial assets 114, network-related devices of the network component116, etc. (e.g., communication connections or conditions betweenindustrial devices, types of connections between industrial devices,communication connections between industrial devices and network-relateddevices, etc.). The set of data further can include information relatingto, for example, human behavior or interaction in connection with theindustrial automation system 106 (e.g., maintenance schedules,shift-specific or operator-specific behavior or interaction of operatorswith the industrial automation system); production or process flows ofthe industrial automation system 106 at particular times or inconnection with particular projects; and/or other aspects or features ofthe industrial automation system 106.

The model management component 120 can analyze the set of data and cangenerate the model 104 of the industrial automation system 106 based atleast in part on the results of the analysis of the set of data. In someimplementations, the model management component 120 can generate themodel 104, which can be a multidimensional (e.g., two-dimensional (2-D)or three-dimensional (3-D)) model, in accordance with an InternationalStandardization Organization (ISO) standard(s).

The model management component 120 also can facilitate generation of amulti-dimensional (e.g., 2-D or 3-D) visualization or virtualization ofthe industrial automation system. The multi-dimensional virtualizationof the industrial automation system can be used (e.g., interacted withby a user) to facilitate remote viewing of, interaction with,troubleshooting of problems with, controlling operation of, determiningand/or generating optimization recommendations for, and/or optimizationof industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or the network component 116of the industrial automation system 106.

When there are multiple industrial plant facilities, the modelmanagement component 120 can generate a model 104 that can represent(e.g., model) the multiple industrial automation systems (e.g., 106) ofthe multiple industrial plant facilities and/or respective models (e.g.,sub-models) of the respective industrial automation systems (e.g., 106of the respective industrial plant facilities. The model managementcomponent 120 also can facilitate generation of a multi-dimensionalvisualization or virtualization of the multiple industrial automationsystems (e.g., 106) that can be interacted with by users to facilitateremote viewing of, interaction with, troubleshooting of problems with,controlling operation of, determining and/or generating optimizationrecommendations for, and/or optimization of industrial assets (e.g.,110, 112, 114) of the multiple industrial automation systems (e.g.,106).

In some implementations, to facilitate the modeling of an industrialasset (e.g., industrial device 110, industrial process 112, otherindustrial asset 114) or network-related device of the network component116, the industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-relateddevice can comprise a pre-deployed model of that industrial asset (e.g.,110, 112, 114) or network-related device that the industrial asset(e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related device can provide (e.g.,communicate) to the modeler component 102 in the cloud via a cloudgateway component associated with the industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112,114) or network-related device and/or the network component 116. Forinstance, when an industrial asset (e.g., 110) is installed into anindustrial automation system 106, the model management component 120 candiscover (e.g., automatically or dynamically detect the presence of) theindustrial asset (e.g., 110) in the industrial automation system 106,and/or the industrial asset (e.g., 110) can make its presence known(e.g., automatically or dynamically make its presence known bycommunicating presence or identification information) to the modelmanagement component 120 via an associated cloud gateway component. Theindustrial asset (e.g., 110) can communicate its pre-deployed model(e.g., information relating to the pre-deployed model) to the modelercomponent 102.

In response to receiving the model (e.g., pre-deployed model) of theindustrial asset (e.g., 110), the model management component 120 canintegrate or incorporate the model of the industrial asset (e.g., 110)into the model 104 of the industrial automation system 106 to update themodel 104 and generate a modified model 104 of the industrial automationsystem 106. The model management component 120 also can analyze themodified model 104 of the industrial automation system 106 to determinewhether any modification(s) is to be made or recommended to be made toan industrial asset(s) (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-relateddevice(s) of the network component 116 to facilitate optimizing orimproving operation of the industrial automation system 106 with the newindustrial asset (e.g., 110). In some implementations, the modelmanagement component 120 can communicate modification information to anindustrial asset(s) (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related device(s)of the network component 116 to facilitate modifying (e.g.,automatically, dynamically) such industrial asset(s) (e.g., 110, 112,114) or network-related device(s), wherein such industrial asset(s)(e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related device(s) can modify orreconfigure itself based at least in part on the received modificationinformation. In other implementations, the model management component120 can generate a recommendation that can recommend modifying orreconfiguring such industrial asset(s) (e.g., 110, 112, 114) ornetwork-related device(s) and can present the recommendation (e.g., viaan interface, such as an human machine interface (HMI) or communicationdevice), wherein a user can review the recommendation and decide whetheror not to implement the recommendation to modify or reconfigure the suchindustrial asset(s) (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related device(s).The modification or reconfiguration can comprise, for example, modifyinga parameter(s) of the industrial asset (e.g., industrial device 110,industrial process 112, other industrial asset 114), modifying aconnection of the industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, 114) to anotherindustrial asset or network-related device, updating software orfirmware for an industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or anetwork-related device, generating a new load balancing scheme for theindustrial automation system 106, or other desired modification orreconfiguration of an industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, 114) ornetwork-related device of the network component 116.

In response to any modification or reconfiguration of such industrialasset(s) (e.g., 110, 112, and/or 114) or network-related device(s) ofthe network component 116 (e.g., in response to modification informationcommunicated to (and implemented by) such industrial asset(s) ornetwork-related device(s) by the modeler component 102, or in responseto implementation of a recommendation to modify or reconfigure suchindustrial asset(s) (e.g., 110, 112, and/or 114) or network-relateddevice(s), the modeler component 102 can receive updated informationthat can reflect such modification or reconfiguration from suchindustrial asset(s) (e.g., 110, 112, and/or 114) or network-relateddevice(s) of the network component 116, legacy identifier component 122,and/or the communication device 124. The model management component 120can update or modify the model 104 (e.g., the modified model with themodel of the newly installed industrial asset) to generate a newmodified model 104 based at least in part on the updated information toreflect the modification or reconfiguration of such industrial asset(s)(e.g., 110, 112, and/or 114) or network-related device(s).

In some implementations, the industrial asset (e.g., industrial asset(e.g., 110, 112, or 114) with an associated (e.g., integrated) cloudgateway component) not only can identify itself to the modeler component102 (e.g., via the cloud gateway component), but also can detect oridentify other industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) ornetwork-related devices of the network component 116 near the industrialasset (e.g., 110, 112, or 114) and/or having a relationship (e.g.,functional relationship or connection, sharing a common network) withthe industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, or 114). The industrial asset(e.g., 110, 112, or 114) can communicate information relating to thedetected or identified industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) ornetwork-related devices that are near the industrial asset (e.g., 110,112, or 114) and/or the relationships between the industrial asset(e.g., 110, 112, or 114) and the detected or identified industrialassets or network-related devices to the modeler component 102. Themodel management component 120 can integrate or incorporate suchinformation into the model 104 of the industrial automation system 106to update or modify the model 104 of the industrial automation system106 to generate a modified model of the industrial automation system106.

An industrial device 110 or a network-related device of the networkcomponent 116, or another device, also can comprise components, tools,functions, etc., that can allow users (e.g., original equipmentmanufacturers (OEMs)) who are providing a custom solution to an entity(e.g., customer) to construct (e.g., build) or design a model (e.g.,sub-model) that can correspond to their sub-system (e.g., a motorcontrol cabinet). The sub-model can be stored on one or more devices(e.g., industrial assets (e.g., controller, motor drive),network-related devices (e.g., router, transceiver)) of the sub-system.When the sub-system is installed in the industrial automation system106, the modeler component 102 can discover (e.g., automatically detect)the addition of the sub-system to the industrial automation system 106and/or the sub-system can make (e.g., automatically) its presence in theindustrial automation system 106 known to the modeler component 102.

The one or more devices (e.g., one or more industrial assets (e.g., 110,112, 114) or network-related devices) of the sub-system can communicatethe model of the sub-system (e.g., information relating to the model) tothe modeler component 102 (e.g., via the cloud gateway component). Themodel management component 120 can integrate or incorporate thesub-model of the sub-system with the other modeling information relatingto the other industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) and components(e.g., 116) of the industrial automation system 106 to modify the model104 of the industrial automation system 106 to generate a modified model104 of the industrial automation system 106.

As part of a model of an industrial automation system 106, the modelmanagement component 120 can store configuration information forrespective industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-relateddevices of the industrial automation system 106 in or with the model 104(e.g., in a model file of the model 104 that can be stored (e.g., backedup) in the data store 118 in the cloud). The model management component120 can, for example, store such configuration information in adevice-agnostic format and/or platform-agnostic format to facilitateenabling the configuration information to be used with different devices(e.g., replacement devices) and/or different platforms (e.g., used by areplacement device) in an industrial automation system 106.

In some implementations, the model management component 120 canfacilitate communicating (e.g., transferring, pushing down)configuration information for respective (e.g., various) types ofindustrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related device of thenetwork component 116 of the industrial automation system 106 to therespective types of industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) ornetwork-related devices to facilitate configuring the respective typesof industrial assets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related devices.This can facilitate improved (e.g., easier) deployment of new industrialassets (e.g., 110, 112, 114), network-related devices, or systems,and/or can facilitate ensuring consistency of plant standards across theplant (e.g., comprising an industrial automation system) or multipleplants (e.g., comprising multiple industrial automation systems) and/orone or more entities (e.g., supplier entities) associated with the oneor more plants. For example, if an old industrial device 110 (e.g., oldcontroller) in a particular part of an industrial automation system 106is replaced with a new industrial device 110 (e.g., new controller) forwhatever reason, in response to discovering or being notified of the newindustrial device 110 in the industrial automation system, the modelmanagement component 120 can retrieve configuration information that waspreviously used for the old industrial device 110 from the data store118 in the cloud and can communicate desirable (e.g., suitable)configuration information to the new industrial device 110 to facilitateconfiguring the new industrial device 110 so that the new industrialdevice 110 can operate desirably (e.g., optimally, acceptably, suitably)in the industrial automation system 106, wherein the desirableconfiguration information can be the same as, or based at least in parton, the retrieved configuration information associated with the oldindustrial device 110, depending on the respective types, models,manufacturers, and/or other features of the old industrial device 110and new industrial device 110.

The model 104 of an industrial automation system(s) 106 generated by themodeler component 102 can be agnostic with regard to the differentvendors or platforms that can be associated with industrial assets(e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related device of the network component116 that can be employed in the industrial automation system(s) 106.Thus, for instance, with regard to the example replacement of the oldindustrial device 110, the model management component 120 can, asdesired (e.g., as necessary), translate configuration information in afirst format relating to the old industrial device 110 (e.g., controllerof a first type, of a first model, and/or from a first manufacturer) tonew configuration information in a second format relating to the newindustrial device 110 (e.g., controller of a second type, of a secondmodel, and/or from a second manufacturer), and can communicate the newconfiguration information in the second format from the cloud to the newindustrial device 110 at the plant to facilitate configuring the newindustrial device 110 using the new configuration information in aformat (e.g., the second format) that can be usable and understood bythe new industrial device 110. That is, prior to configurationinformation for an industrial asset (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or anetwork-related device at a plant being communicated to (e.g., pusheddown to) the industrial asset or network-related device, the modelmanagement component 120 can translate the configuration informationrelating to such industrial asset or network-related device that isstored in the cloud-based data store 118 to a format that can becompatible with the new industrial asset or network-related device towhich the configuration information is being sent. This can shorteninstallation time for installing a new industrial device 110, industrialprocess 112, other type of industrial asset 114, network-related deviceof the network component 116, etc., and can ensure that the newindustrial device 110, industrial process 112, other type of industrialasset 114, network-related device, etc., can operate according to thesame parameters as the previous industrial device 110, industrialprocess 112, other type of industrial asset 114, network-related device,etc., regardless of the respective types, models, manufacturers, and/orother features of the previous industrial device 110, industrial process112, other type of industrial asset 114, network-related device, etc.,and the new industrial device 110, industrial process 112, other type ofindustrial asset 114, network-related device, etc.

The model 104 of an industrial automation system 106 of an entity (e.g.,a company) can be used for other purposes as well. For instance, anentity, such as a large company, may work with various suppliers,vendors, or system integrators to obtain industrial assets (e.g., 110,112, 114) or network-related devices, have industrial assets (e.g., 110,112, 114) or network-related devices designed, etc., for the industrialautomation system 106. The entity can have respective, relevant portionsof the model 104 of its industrial automation system 106 provided torespective suppliers, vendors, or system integrators so that therespective suppliers, vendors, or system integrators can haverespective, relevant information (e.g., parameters, configurationinformation, specification information) for the respective industrialassets (e.g., 110, 112, 114) or network-related devices they aredesigning and/or providing to the entity for the respective portions ofthe industrial automation system 106. For example, the model managementcomponent 120 can provide specifications for an industrial device 110(e.g., controller or motor), which is designed and/or manufactured by asupplier entity and used in an industrial automation system 106 of anenterprise entity, to the supplier entity (e.g., a communication deviceof the supplier entity) via a relevant portion of the model 104 of theportion of the industrial automation system 106 that comprises theindustrial device 110. Also, with regard to device configuration andmanufacturing standards developed by the enterprise entity or anotherentity(ies) in connection with one or more industrial devices 110 of theindustrial automation system 106 and employed at a facility (e.g., mainfacility) of the enterprise entity, the model management component 120can encode or incorporate such device configuration and manufacturingstandards in the model 104 of the industrial automation system 106. Themodel management component 120 can provide the model 104 of theindustrial automation system 106, or a relevant portion thereof, to oneor more other facilities (e.g., one or more communication devices of theone or more facilities) associated with the enterprise entity to providesuch device configuration and manufacturing standards to the one or moreother facilities to enforce operational standardization across multiplefacilities and to make configuration of industrial automation systems(e.g., 106) at other (e.g., new) facilities easier through the use ofsuch device configuration and manufacturing standards obtained from themodel at the other facilities. Thus, the model 104 can be used by anenterprise entity to facilitate homogenizing industrial automationsystems (e.g., 106) and/or product lines of the enterprise entityglobally.

In accordance with other aspects and implementations of the disclosedsubject matter, once the model 104 of an industrial automation system106 is constructed, the model 104 can be an active part of theenterprise entity’s industrial automation system 106 and can beintegrated with other services (e.g., virtualization services, customdata services, remote services) and applications.

Referring to FIG. 2 , FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an examplesystem 200 that can employ a model of an industrial automation systemassociated with an industrial enterprise based at least in part oncloud-based data relating to the industrial enterprise to generate avirtualized industrial automation system, in accordance with variousimplementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. Thesystem 200 can comprise a modeler component 202, a model 204 of theindustrial automation system 206, an industrial automation system 206, acollection component 208, industrial devices 210, industrial processes212, other industrial assets 214, a network component 216, a data store218, a model management component 220 (MMC 220), and a communicationdevice 222.

The system 200 also can comprise a virtualization component 224 that canbe associated with the modeler component 202, collection component 208,data store 218, and industrial automation system 206, among othercomponents with which it can be associated. The virtualization component224 can generate an interactive virtualized or visualizedmulti-dimensional (e.g., 2-D or 3-D) industrial automation system 226 ofand corresponding to the industrial automation system 206 based at leastin part on the model 204 of the industrial automation system 206, asmore fully disclosed herein. A user (e.g., operator, technician,maintenance person, supervisor, IT person, or other plant person) caninteract with and navigate the virtualized industrial automation system226, via a communication device 228 (e.g., computer, mobile phone,electronic pad or tablet), to facilitate monitoring (e.g., remotemonitoring or viewing) operation of the industrial automation system206, controlling (e.g., remotely controlling) operation of theindustrial automation system 206, troubleshooting or providingassistance with (e.g., remotely troubleshooting or assisting) a problemwith operation of the industrial automation system 206, or performingother tasks relating to the industrial automation system 206, via thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 presented on thecommunication device 228 associated with the user. The virtualizationcomponent 224 can overlay respective relevant data (e.g., overlaycustomized data) on a relevant portion (e.g., customized view of aportion) of the virtualized industrial automation system 226 presented(e.g., displayed) on the communication device 228, for respectiveindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, other industrialassets 214, and/or network-related devices of the network component 216in the corresponding portion of the industrial automation system 206.The virtualization component 224 can determine the relevant customizeddata (e.g., status data, operational data, other data) to overlay on therelevant portion of the virtualized industrial automation system 226that can correspond to the relevant portion of the industrial automationsystem 206 based at least in part on the role of the user in theenterprise entity, identification or authentication informationassociated with the user, access rights to data granted to the user,location of the user in relation to the industrial automation system206, preferences (e.g., user preferences, enterprise entitypreferences), and/or other factors, in accordance with definedvirtualization criteria.

In some implementations, the modeler component 202, collection component208, data store 218, and virtualization component 224 can be located ina cloud platform that can be interfaced with the industrial automationsystem 206. In accordance with various other implementations, one ormore of the modeler component 202, the collection component 208, thedata store 218, the virtualization management component 224, and/orvarious other portions (e.g., components) of the modeler component 202,the collection component 208, the data store 218, or the virtualizationmanagement component 224, can be located at the plant or OEM levelassociated with the industrial automation system 206, or can be locatedin a different platform or level.

To facilitate generating the virtualized industrial automation system226, the virtualization component 224 can utilize the model 204 of theindustrial automation system 206 (e.g., which can be an updated modelwhen the industrial automation system 206 has been modified) that can bestored in the data store 218 or provided by the modeler component 202.Additionally or alternatively, the virtualization component 224 canmonitor or track the operation of the industrial automation system 206,including monitoring and tracking the respective operations ofrespective industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrialassets 214, and/or network-related devices of the network component 216based at least in part on information (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related information) collected by thecollection component 208 and/or stored in the data store 218.

The virtualization component 224 can generate and manage the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 that can correspond to the industrialautomation system 206 based at least in part on the model 204 and/ordata obtained from the industrial automation system 206, anotherindustrial automation system(s), or from other sources (e.g., extrinsicsources), in accordance with defined virtualization criteria. Thevirtualization component 224 can be associated with (e.g., interfacedwith, communicatively connected to) the modeler component 202,collection component 208, and/or data store 218 to facilitate obtainingthe model 204 and/or the data to facilitate generating and managing thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 of the industrialautomation system 206.

The virtualization component 224 can analyze the model 204 and/or data(e.g., provided by the modeler component 202, collected by thecollection component 208, or stored in the data store 218) and/or otherdata (e.g., other industrial-automation-system-related data and/or otherdata, such as extrinsic data), and can generate (e.g., create, build,construct, etc.) the virtualized industrial automation system 226 thatcan correspond to the industrial automation system 206 based at least inpart on the results of the model and/or data analysis, in accordancewith the defined virtualization criteria. The virtualized industrialautomation system 226 also can comprise a virtualized network componentthat can correspond to the network component (e.g., a wireline and/orwireless communication network) that can be integrated or interfacedwith the other portions (e.g., industrial devices 210, industrialprocesses 212, industrial assets 214, network component 216 etc.) of theindustrial automation system 206. The virtualization component 224 canthereby virtualize the automation or control environment as well as thenetwork environment (e.g., an IT view of the network environment) thatcan represent and be associated with (e.g., interfaced with) theindustrial automation system 206. For instance, the virtualizationcomponent 224 can generate a virtualized industrial automation system226 that can virtualize (e.g., comprise virtualized versions of) theindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214,and network-related devices of the network component 216, etc.,including virtualizing the respective features and configurations (e.g.,respective functions, controls, parameters, settings, etc.) of theindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214,and network-related devices of the network component 216, etc., andvirtualizing respective connections, interactions, or interrelationships(e.g., functional and/or geographical interrelationships) betweenrespective industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrialassets 214, and/or network-related devices of the network component 216,etc., to virtualize the configuration of the industrial automationsystem 206 to generate the corresponding virtualized industrialautomation system 226. The virtualized versions of the industrialdevices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214, and thenetwork component 216 generated by the virtualization component 224 canbe, for example, virtualized industrial devices 230, virtualizedindustrial processes 232, other virtualized industrial assets 234, andvirtualized network component 236. In some implementations, tofacilitate analyzing the model 204 (e.g., model-related data) or data,as desired (e.g., when appropriate), the virtualization component 224can normalize data to facilitate generating data with normalized valuesthat can be used to facilitate generating the virtualized industrialautomation system 226.

To facilitate generating a virtualized industrial automation system 226that can correspond to and be associated with (e.g., can interact or beinterfaced with) the industrial automation system 206, thevirtualization component 224 can access the data store 218 (e.g.,cloud-based data store), the collection component 208, or modelercomponent 202 to obtain the model 204 and/or a set of data relating tothe industrial automation system 206 and/or another industrialautomation system (e.g., another system comprising an industrialdevice(s), process(es), and/or asset(s) that can be the same or similarto an industrial device(s) 210, process(es) 212, and/or asset(s) 214 ofthe industrial automation system 206). The model 204 or the set of datacan comprise information relating to, for example, the respectiveproperties, characteristics, functions, configurations, etc., ofrespective industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, otherindustrial assets 214, or network-related devices of the networkcomponent 216; or the configuration of industrial devices 210,industrial processes 212, or other industrial assets 214 in relation toeach other. For example, the properties or characteristics forindustrial devices 210 or industrial processes 212 can comprisemechanical or process properties or characteristics associated withindustrial devices or processes (e.g., mechanical latency, process cycletimes, operating schedules, etc., associated with industrial devices).As another example, the properties or characteristics fornetwork-related devices of the network component 216 can comprisecommunication properties or characteristics (e.g., wireless and/orwireline communication functionality, type(s) of network orcommunication protocol(s), network or communication specifications,total bandwidth, etc.) of the respective network-related devices.

The model 204 and/or the set of data also can comprise informationrelating to, for example, the configuration of the network-relateddevices of the network component 216 in relation to each other, or theconfiguration of network-related devices in relation to the industrialdevices 210, industrial processes 212, and/or other industrial assets214; software, firmware, and/or operating system utilized by theindustrial automation system 206 (e.g., type(s), version(s),revision(s), configuration(s), etc., of the software, firmware, and/oroperating system); functional and communicative relationships betweenindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214,network-related devices of the network component 216, etc. (e.g.,communication connections or conditions between industrial devices,types of connections between industrial devices, communicationconnections between industrial devices and network-related devices,etc.). The model 204 or the set of data further can include informationrelating to, for example, human behavior or interaction in connectionwith the industrial automation system 206 (e.g., maintenance schedules,shift-specific or operator-specific behavior or interaction of operatorswith the industrial automation system); production or process flows ofthe industrial automation system 206 at particular times or inconnection with particular projects; and/or other aspects or features ofthe industrial automation system 206.

The virtualized industrial automation system 226 generated and managedby the virtualization component 224 can be or can comprise amulti-dimensional virtualized industrial automation system that canprovide multi-dimensional virtualized views (e.g., 3-D views or 2-Dviews) of the industrial automation system 206, or a portion thereof,from various visual perspectives. In some implementations, thevirtualization component 224 can generate and manage a virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 that can comprise a dashboard (e.g., avirtualized dashboard, a graphical representation of a dashboard) thatcan comprise a virtual view of all or a portion of the parameters,controls, alert indicators, etc., associated with the industrialautomation system 206. For instance, the modeler component 202 and/orthe virtualization component 224 can leverage the rich set of historicaland live data (e.g., industrial-automation-system-related data and otherdata) that can be collected in the cloud (e.g., via the collectioncomponent 208) to create interactive, multi-dimensional (e.g., 3-D, 2-D)models (e.g., interactive models), virtualizations, or other interactivevirtualizations (e.g., a dashboard virtualization) of a user’s plantenvironment (e.g., the portion of the plant relevant to the user’s roleor job at the plant) that can facilitate remote (virtualized) viewing,interaction with, and/or control of industrial devices 210, industrialprocesses 212, industrial assets 214, network-related devices of thenetwork component 216, etc., on the plant floor of the industrialautomation system 206 via the communication device 228 of the user.

In some implementations, a virtualized industrial automation system 226(e.g., 3-D virtualized industrial automation system) generated by thevirtualization component 224 can comprise parallax information (e.g.,horizontal and vertical parallax information) and depth information thatcan recreate and/or virtualize the industrial automation system 206,including recreating and/or virtualizing the relationships betweenobjects (e.g., industrial devices, processes, assets, etc.) of theindustrial automation system 206 (e.g., recreating and/or virtualizinggeo-spatial relationships of objects, relative distances of objects froma user at the user’s viewpoint, providing depth perception with respectto objects, etc.). The user can use the user’s communication device 228(e.g., by interacting with controls provided by the virtualizationservice or application) to interact with the multi-dimensionalvirtualized industrial automation system 226. For example, using theuser’s communication device 228 (e.g., computer, phone, electronic pador tablet, electronic (e.g., smart) glasses with communicationcapabilities and functionality, etc.), the user can be immersed (e.g.,visually and/or audially) within the multi-dimensional (e.g., 3-D)virtualized industrial automation system 226 associated with anindustrial automation system 206 such that the user can experience(e.g., visually or audially) or interact with the multi-dimensional(e.g., 3-D) virtualized industrial automation system 226 in a mannersimilar to if the user was in the plant viewing the industrialautomation system 206, wherein the user can use controls (e.g., providedby the virtualization service or application) provided on thecommunication device 228 to virtually walk around through and interactwith the virtualized industrial automation system 226 to facilitateremotely interacting with the industrial automation system 206. Also,using the user’s communication device 228, the user can view (e.g.,virtually view 3-D graphics of) the respective locations of respectiveplant personnel (e.g., operators, technicians, and/or other personnel)who are performing work tasks in connection with the industrialautomation system 206 or who are otherwise in proximity to respectiveportions of the industrial automation system 206 at respectivelocations.

The virtualized industrial automation system 226 generated by thevirtualization component 224 can include graphical and/or virtualizedrepresentations of the various industrial devices 210, industrialprocesses 212, industrial assets 214, network-related devices of thenetwork component 216, etc., of the industrial automation system 206 anddata (e.g., industrial-automation-system-related data or other data)that can be overlaid on and/or provided in proximity to the graphicaland/or virtualized representations. The graphical and/or virtualizedrepresentations (e.g., 230, 232, 234, 236) of the various industrialdevices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214,network-related devices, etc., generated by the virtualization component224 can comprise one or more respective instances (e.g., virtualizedinstances) of the various industrial devices 210, industrial processes212, industrial assets 214, network-related devices of the networkcomponent 216, etc. The graphical and/or virtualized representations(e.g., 230, 232, 234, 236) of the various industrial devices 210,industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214, network-relateddevices, etc., also can comprise (e.g., as applicable) graphical and/orvirtualized representations of controls (e.g., virtualized controls),switches (e.g., virtualized switches), conveyors (e.g., virtualizedconveyors), or other parts (e.g., virtualized parts), that cancorrespond to the various controls, switches, conveyors, or other partsof or associated with the various industrial devices 210, industrialprocesses 212, industrial assets 214, network-related devices, etc., ofthe industrial automation system 206. When in accordance with the user’saccess rights to the virtualized industrial automation system 226 andassociated industrial automation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226), the user, using the user’scommunication device 228, can interact with the virtual industrialautomation system 226 to manipulate or adjust the virtualized controls,virtualized switches (e.g., switch a virtual switch on or off), etc., ofthe graphical and/or virtualized representations (e.g., 230, 232, 234,236) of the various industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212,industrial assets 214, network-related devices, etc., to facilitateremotely manipulating or adjusting the controls, switches, etc., of thevarious industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrialassets 214, network-related devices, etc., of the industrial automationsystem 206.

In some implementations, the virtualization component 224 can facilitatecapturing (e.g., via one or more capture components (e.g., one or morevideo cameras directed at various parts of the industrial automationsystem 206)) or obtaining video images of the industrial automationsystem 206, or a desired portion(s) thereof. The video images can becollected by the collection component 208 and stored in the data store218. The virtualization component 224 can overlay and/or integrate thevideo images (e.g., real time or near real time video images) of theindustrial automation system 206 on and/or with the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 to augment the virtualized industrialautomation system 226 (e.g., to generate an augmented virtualizedindustrial automation system), wherein the video images of theindustrial automation system 206 can provide visual data with thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 that may not be availablevia the virtualized industrial automation system 226 by itself.

The virtualization component 224 can store the virtualized industrialautomation system 226 in the data store 218 (e.g., cloud-based datastore). The virtualization component 224 also can provide (e.g.,communicate) the virtualized industrial automation system 226, or aportion thereof, to the communication device(s) 228 of a user(s) (e.g.,operator, technician, engineer, manager, maintenance or repair person,etc.) associated with the industrial automation system 206, wherein thecommunication device(s) 228 of the user(s) can present (e.g., display)the virtualized industrial automation system 226, or portion thereof, tothe user(s) (e.g., for remote display of the virtualized industrialautomation system 226 on such communication device 228 for viewing bythe user). For instance, the virtualization component 224 can provide(e.g., communicate, present, etc.) one or more virtual interfacescomprising all or a portion of the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 of the industrial automation system 206 (e.g., comprising allof the virtualized industrial automation system 226 or only the part(s)(e.g., only certain industrial device 210, processes 212, assets 214, ornetwork-related devices) of the virtualized industrial automation system226 that the user desires or is permitted to access). The communicationdevice 228 can be, for example, a computer (e.g., desktop computer,laptop computer), a mobile phone (e.g., smart phone, cellular phone), anelectronic pad or tablet, electronic glasses (e.g., smart glasses) withcommunication functionality, an electronic watch with communicationfunctionality, an Internet Protocol (IP) television (IPTV), or othertype of suitable communication device.

In some implementations, the virtualization component 224 can monitorthe user’s location (e.g., in relation to the industrial automationsystem 206), and interactions and behavior of the user in relation tothe industrial automation system 206 or associated virtualizedindustrial automation system 226, to facilitate remote interaction withand/or control of (e.g., gesture-based interaction with and/or controlof) the industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrialassets 214, and/or network-related devices of the network component 216,etc., of the industrial automation system 206 via the communicationdevice 228 of the user and the cloud platform. In some implementations,a user can interact with the virtual industrial automation system 226associated with (e.g., interfaced with) the corresponding industrialautomation system 206 via the user’s communication device 228 tofacilitate interacting with and/or controlling (e.g., remotelyinteracting with and/or controlling) the industrial automation system206 based at least in part on the user’s interactions with the virtualindustrial automation system 226 via the communication device 228 of theuser.

For instance, the user can view (e.g., monitor and/or track virtualizedoperation of) the virtual industrial automation system 226 on the user’scommunication device 228, and can desire to adjust a control on theindustrial automation system 206 to facilitate adjusting or controllingthe operation of the industrial automation system 206. The virtualindustrial automation system 226 can comprise a virtualized control thatcan correspond to and/or be interfaced with the control of theindustrial automation system 206. The user can input information (e.g.,user input, such as gestures (e.g., gestures on a touch screen),keystrokes, mouse clicks, selections, voice commands, etc., of the user)to the user’s communication device 228 to facilitate manipulating thevirtualized control of the virtualized industrial automation system 226presented by (e.g., displayed on) the user’s communication device 228 tofacilitate adjusting the virtualized control, which can facilitateadjusting the corresponding control of the industrial automation system206. The virtualization component 224 can receive the input information,or corresponding control information (e.g., as generated by thecommunication device 228 based at least in part on the inputinformation), relating to the user interactions with the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 via the communication device 228 of theuser and communication network. The input information, or correspondingcontrol information, can facilitate controlling the operation of theindustrial automation system 206.

In response to the input information, or corresponding controlinformation, the virtualization component 224 can generate controlsignals that can be based at least in part on (e.g., that can correspondto) the user interactions with the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226. The virtualization component 224 can transmit (e.g., in realor near real time) the control signals to the industrial automationsystem 206 to facilitate controlling (e.g., in real or near real time)operation of (e.g., adjusting the control of) the industrial automationsystem 206 in response to, and based at least in part on (e.g., incorrespondence with), the user interactions with the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226.

To facilitate desirable (e.g., accurate, efficient, etc.) control of theoperation of the industrial automation system 206 using the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226, the virtualization component 224 canobtain (e.g., automatically, dynamically, or continuously obtain, inreal or at least near real time) an updated model 204 of the industrialautomation system 206 and/or data relating to the operation of theindustrial automation system 206, user interactions with the industrialautomation system 206 (e.g., either direct user interactions with theindustrial automation system 206, or indirect or virtual userinteractions with the industrial automation system 206 via userinteractions with the virtual industrial automation system 226), and/orother data. For example, the virtualization component 224 can monitorand track the operational response of the industrial control system 206in response to the control signals. The collection component 108 canobtain data, which can relate to the operational response of theindustrial automation system 206 in response to the control signals,from the industrial automation system 206.

The modeler component 202 can update the model 204 in response to theuser interactions with the virtualized industrial automation system 226and in response to the data relating to the operational response of theindustrial automation system 206 based at least in part on the userinteractions with the virtualized industrial automation system 226.Additionally or alternatively, the virtualization component 224 canupdate the virtualized industrial automation system 226 in response tothe model 204 being updated, and/or in response to the user interactionswith the virtualized industrial automation system 226 and in response tothe data relating to the operational response of the industrialautomation system 206 based at least in part on the user interactionswith the virtualized industrial automation system 226. For instance, themodeler component 202 can update (e.g., automatically, dynamically, orcontinuously update, in real or at least near real time) the model 204,and/or the virtualization component 224 can update (e.g., automatically,dynamically, or continuously update, in real or at least near real time)the virtualized industrial automation system 226, based at least in parton collected data relating to the operation of the industrial automationsystem 206, the user interactions with the industrial automation system206, and/or other data. The modeler component 202 also can update (e.g.,automatically or dynamically update, in real or at least near real time)the model 204 based at least in part on any modification to theindustrial automation system 206, to generate a modified model that canmodel or represent any modification made to the industrial automationsystem 206. Additionally or alternatively, the virtualization component224 also can update (e.g., automatically or dynamically update, in realor at least near real time) the virtualized industrial automation system226, based at least in part on any update to the model 204 and/or anymodification to the industrial automation system 206, to generate amodified virtualized industrial automation system that can virtualizeany modification made to the industrial automation system 206.

As an exemplary scenario, in the industrial automation system 206, amotor short may have caused a fluid spill. The modeler component 202 orvirtualization component 224 can detect the motor short and the fluidspill in the industrial automation system 206, and can collect data(e.g., via the collection component 208) relating to the motor short andfluid spill. The modeler component 202 can analyze the data and canupdate the model 204 to reflect or represent the motor short and fluidspill in the industrial automation system 206, based at least in part onthe analysis results. Additionally or alternatively, the virtualizationcomponent 224 can analyze the updated model 204 and/or the data, and canupdate the virtualized industrial automation system 226 to present agraphical representation(s) and/or overlaid data associated with theindustrial automation system 206 illustrating and/or relating to themotor short and fluid spill, based at least in part on the analysisresults.

The virtualization component 224 can provide (e.g., communicate,present, etc.) the updated virtualized industrial automation system 226,or desired portion thereof, to the communication device 228 of a user.Using the communication device 228, the user can remotely observe andinteract with the virtualized industrial automation system 226, whichcan include a 3-D graphical representation of the motor, associateddrive, and the portion of the industrial automation system 206 affectedby the spill. The modeler component 202 can continue to update the model204 in response to, and to reflect (e.g., to incorporate), changes tothe industrial automation system 206 as they occur. The virtualizationcomponent 224 also can continue to update the virtualized industrialautomation system 226 in response to, and to reflect (e.g., toincorporate), changes to the industrial automation system 206 as theyoccur.

The user can interact with the updated virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 presented on the communication device 228 to facilitateturning off the motor. For example, the user can make a gesture(s)(e.g., select a button, touch or swipe a control displayed on a touchscreen, speak a voice command, type a command, etc.) in relation to theupdated virtualized industrial automation system 226 that indicates thatthe user is turning off the virtualized motor that corresponds to themotor of the industrial automation system 206 to facilitate turning offthe motor. The communication device 228 can receive the gesture(s), andcan communicate information (e.g., control or command relatedinformation) relating to the gesture(s) to the virtualization component224.

In response to the information received from the communication device228, the virtualization component 224 can detect that the user hasperformed a gesture(s) that, given the user’s current view of theupdated virtualized industrial automation system 226, indicates orcorresponds to a command to turn off the motor of the industrialautomation system 206. In response, the virtualization component 224 canfurther update the virtualized industrial automation system 226 toreflect (e.g., to graphically represent or display data illustrating)that the virtualized motor is being turned off. Further, in response,the virtualization component 224 can generate and transmit a command(e.g., via the cloud platform) that can instruct a controller (e.g., ofthe industrial automation system 206) associated with the motor totransmit a stop or shut off command to the motor to facilitate turningoff the motor and stopping or mitigating the spill. In response to thecommand received from the virtualization component 224, the controllercan transmit the stop or shut off command to the motor and the motor canbe switched off in response to the stop or shut off command. In thisway, the immediate effects of the malfunctioning motor can be curtailedbefore maintenance personnel are sent to the spill site. The modelercomponent 202 also can update the model 204 to reflect the switching offof the motor in the industrial automation system 206.

As another example, in some implementations, the virtualizationcomponent 224 can generate a virtualized view of the inner components,configuration of the inner components, operation of the innercomponents, faults of the inner components (e.g., when they occur),etc., of the industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212,industrial assets 214, and/or network-related devices of the networkcomponent 216, based at least in part on the model 204 and/or the data(e.g., industrial-automation-system-related data), in accordance withthe defined virtualization criteria. The virtualization component 224can provide (e.g., communicate, present) the inner virtualized view ofan industrial device 210, an industrial process 212, an industrial asset214, and/or a network-related device to the communication device 228 ofa user, as desired. For example, if there is a problem with anindustrial device 210 of the industrial automation system 206 detected,the user, using the communication device 228, can interact with thecorresponding virtualized industrial device (e.g., 230) of thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 to access the virtualizedinner components, configuration, operation, and/or fault, etc., of thevirtualized industrial device (e.g., 230). For instance, the user, usingthe communication device 228, can interact with the virtualizedindustrial device (e.g., 230) on the display screen of the communicationdevice 228 to remove a virtualized panel of the virtualized industrialdevice (e.g., 230) to expose (e.g., display, present) the virtualizedinner components, configuration, operation, and/or fault, etc., of thevirtualized industrial device (e.g., 230) to the user via thecommunication device 228. In response to user interaction with thecommunication device 228, the user can navigate the inside of thevirtualized industrial device (e.g., 230) to facilitate determiningand/or rectifying the problem with the industrial device 210.

In some implementations, the virtualization component 224 can employ orprovide virtualization customization and/or data filtering services orapplications. Via such virtualization customization and/or datafiltering services or applications, the virtualization component 224 cancustomize a user’s view of the virtualized industrial automation system226 on the user’s communication device 228 or filter data associatedwith the virtualized industrial automation system 226 (and associatedindustrial automation system 206) presented on the user’s communicationdevice 228 to the user based at least in part on the role (e.g.,operator, technician, manager, engineer, or other role) of the user inconnection with the industrial automation system 206, the identity ofthe user or the user’s communication device 228 or radiofrequencyidentification (RFID) tag, the authorization or access rights of a userto access the virtualized industrial automation system 226 or theindustrial automation system 206, authentication information (e.g.,username, password, biometric information (e.g., voice information,fingerprint information, biometric information relating to the user’seye), etc.) presented by the user, the location of the user (e.g., thelocation of the user’s communication device 228 or RFID tag of the user)in relation to the industrial automation system 206 (e.g., the locationof the user within (or outside) the facility (e.g., plant) thatcomprises the industrial automation system 206), context of the data,preferences of a user (e.g., view customization preferences of theuser), or other defined virtualization criteria. For example, thevirtualization component 224 can customize the user’s view of thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 on the user’s communicationdevice 228 or filter data associated with the virtualized industrialautomation system 226 presented on the user’s communication device 228to present, on the user’s communication device 228, the portion of thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 and the portion of theoverlaid data (e.g., industrial-automation-system-related data) desiredby (e.g., of interest to) or permitted for viewing by the user. Thevirtualization component 224 can generate and provide different views ofthe virtualized industrial automation system 226, which can comprisedifferent data overlays (e.g., role-centric and/or user-preference baseddata overlays), for presentation on different communication devices 228of different users, wherein the respective users can view and interactwith the virtualized industrial automation system 226 (e.g., virtualizedplant) through their respective communication devices 228 to facilitateperforming their respective work tasks to respectively remotely controlthe industrial automation system 206 via the respective customized viewsof the virtualized industrial automation system 226 presented on theirrespective communication devices 228.

For example, the virtualization component 224 can analyze dataassociated with a first user, a second user, and a third user, whereinthe data can be data stored in the data store 218, data obtained fromthe first, second, and third users (e.g., via the users’ communicationdevices 228), and/or data obtained from another data source(s), such asthe model 204 or an extrinsic data source(s). The data can specify orindicate the respective roles of the first, second, and third users withrespect to the industrial automation system 206. For instance, firstdata associated with the first user can specify or indicate that thefirst user is a maintenance engineer, second data associated with thesecond user can specify or indicate that the second user is a shiftsupervisor, and third data associated with the third user can specify orindicate that the third user is a network engineer. Based at least inpart on the results of the data analysis, the virtualization component224 can determine that the first user is a maintenance engineer, thesecond user is a shift supervisor, and the third user is a networkengineer.

The virtualization component 224 can generate different customized viewsof the virtualized industrial automation system 226 and differentcustomized data overlays for each of the first, second, and third usersbased at least in part on their respective roles with respect to theindustrial automation system 206. For instance, the virtualizationcomponent 224 (and/or modeler component 202) can determine and generatea first customized view of the virtualized industrial automation system226 based at least in part on the role of the first user beingdetermined to be a maintenance engineer and/or one or more othercustomization factors (e.g., location of the first user with respect tothe industrial automation system 206, a customization preference(s) ofthe first user, etc.), in accordance with the defined virtualizationcriteria. The virtualization component 224 (and/or modeler component202) also can determine a first subset of operational data that can berelevant to the first user in the first user’s role as maintenanceengineer, wherein the first subset of operational data can comprise dataobtained from the data store 218 (e.g., as collected from the industrialautomation system 206) and/or data being obtained from the industrialautomation system 206 (e.g., automatically or dynamically, in real ornear real time). The virtualization component 224 can overlay the firstsubset of operational data on the first customized view of thevirtualized industrial automation system 226. For example, thevirtualization component 224 can overlay the first subset of operationaldata (e.g., respective status information of respective industrialdevices 210, industrial processes 212, and/or industrial assets 214,network-related devices of the network component 216) on or in proximity(e.g., near) to the corresponding virtualized industrial devices 230,virtualized industrial processes 232, virtualized industrial assets 234,and/or virtualized network-related devices of the virtualized networkcomponent 236 presented in the first customized view of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226.

The virtualization component 224 (and/or modeler component 202) also candetermine and generate a second customized view of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 based at least in part on the role ofthe second user being determined to be a shift supervisor and/or one ormore other customization factors (e.g., location of the second user withrespect to the industrial automation system 206, a customizationpreference(s) of the second user, etc.), in accordance with the definedvirtualization criteria. The virtualization component 224 (and/ormodeler component 202) also can determine a second subset of operationaldata that can be relevant to the second user in the second user’s roleas shift supervisor, wherein the second subset of operational data cancomprise data obtained from the data store 218 (e.g., as collected fromthe industrial automation system 206) and/or data being obtained fromthe industrial automation system 206 (e.g., automatically ordynamically, in real or near real time). The virtualization component224 can overlay the second subset of operational data on the secondcustomized view of the virtualized industrial automation system 226. Forexample, the virtualization component 224 can overlay the second subsetof operational data (e.g., respective production statistics associatedwith respective industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, and/orindustrial assets 214) on or in proximity to the correspondingvirtualized industrial devices 230, virtualized industrial processes232, and/or virtualized industrial assets 234 presented in the secondcustomized view of the virtualized industrial automation system 226.

The virtualization component 224 (and/or modeler component 202) furthercan determine and generate a third customized view of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 based at least in part on the role ofthe third user being determined to be a network engineer and/or one ormore other customization factors (e.g., location of the third user withrespect to the industrial automation system 206, a customizationpreference(s) of the third user, etc.), in accordance with the definedvirtualization criteria. The virtualization component 224 (and/ormodeler component 202) also can determine a third subset of operationaldata that can be relevant to the third user in the second user’s role asnetwork engineer, wherein the third subset of operational data cancomprise data obtained from the data store 218 (e.g., as collected fromthe industrial automation system 206) and/or data being obtained fromthe industrial automation system 206 (e.g., automatically ordynamically, in real or near real time). The virtualization component224 can overlay the third subset of operational data on the thirdcustomized view (e.g., IT view) of the virtualized industrial automationsystem. For example, the virtualization component 224 can overlay thethird subset of operational data (e.g., respective data usageinformation associated with respective network-related devices of thenetwork component 216) on or in proximity to the correspondingvirtualized network-related devices of the virtualized network component236 presented in the third customized view of the virtualized industrialautomation system 226.

The virtualization component 224 also can facilitate enabling a user,via the user’s communication device 228, to apply a desired filter(s) tofilter data associated with the user’s view (e.g., customized view) ofthe virtualized industrial automation system 226, for example, topresent a subset of the data that is relevant to a work task that theuser is performing at the time, present more detailed data and/or adrilled-down view regarding a certain portion of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 and associated industrial automationsystem 206, or for other reasons, as desired by the user. Thevirtualization component 224 can provide a number of different types offilters to the communication devices 228 of users to enable the users tocustomize, augment, and/or filter data overlays for a user’spersonalized view of the virtualized industrial automation system. Forexample, the respective filters can be employed to facilitate filteringdata to present a data overlay that can provide a summary or high-levelabstract data regarding a particular portion of the industrialautomation system 206; filtering data to present a data overlay relatingto a particular industrial device 210, industrial process 212,industrial asset 214, or network-related device of the network component216; filtering data to present a data overlay comprising more detailedinformation (e.g., drilled-down information) relating to a particularindustrial device 210, industrial process 212, industrial asset 214, ornetwork-related device than is presented with a current data overlay;filtering data for a data overlay based at least in part on type ofdata; filtering data for a data overlay based at least in part on a roleof a user; filtering data based at least in part on a location of theuser; filtering data based at least in part on a time associated withthe data; filtering data based at least in part on a work shift (e.g.,work-shift time period) associated with the data; and/or filtering datafor a data overlay using another desired type of filter.

As an example of data filtering, the virtualization component 224 cangenerate, and provide to the communication device 228 of a user, such asa network engineer, a customized view (e.g., an IT view) of thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 associated with theindustrial automation system 206 and a data overlay associated with thecustomized view, based at least in part on the role (e.g., networkengineer) of the user and/or preferences of the user, in accordance withthe defined virtualization criteria. For instance, the data overlay forthe customized view of the virtualized industrial automation system 226can comprise bandwidth usage information that can be displayed over allor a desired portion of the virtualized network-related devices of thevirtualized network component 236 presented in the customized view ofthe virtualized industrial automation system 226, wherein thevirtualized network-related devices can correspond to respectivenetwork-related devices of the network component 216 of the industrialautomation system 206. In this example, as part of the original dataoverlay (e.g., original customized data overlay), the display screen ofthe user’s communication device 228 can display an alarm (e.g., agraphical representation of an alarm) on or in proximity to a particularvirtualized network-related device, wherein the alarm can indicate(e.g., can be known to indicate or can display data indicating) thatbandwidth usage is reaching a slowdown level. If desired, the user(e.g., network engineer) can use the communication device 228 to selecta filter (e.g., data filter) that can be placed on or used in connectionwith the user’s customized view of the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226. The virtualization component 224 can receive informationrelating to the selection of the filter from the communication device228. In response, the virtualization component 224 can modify (e.g.,augment) the customized view of the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 (e.g., modify or augment the data overlay of the customizedview of the virtualized industrial automation system 226) to overlaymore detailed information relating to the respective bandwidth usageassociated with respective network-related devices on or in proximity torespective virtualized network-related devices. For example, while theoriginal data overlay presented an alarm indicator, on or in proximityto a particular network-related device, that indicates bandwidth usageis reaching a slowdown level, the augmented data overlay can presentrespective data overlay portions on or in proximity to the respectivenetwork-related devices presented on the display screen of thecommunication device 228, wherein the respective data overlay portionscan comprise respective data that can indicate, e.g., whichnetwork-related devices are utilizing any of the bandwidth and how muchbandwidth each of these network-related devices is using.

Data overlays also can be based at least in part on a current context(e.g., the user’s location in relation to the industrial automationsystem 206; a current operating condition associated with an industrialdevice 210, an industrial process 212, an industrial asset 214, or anetwork-related device of the network component 216; etc.). As alocation-based example, the virtualization component 224 can update,augment, filter, or customize the view (e.g., customized view), and/ordata overlay, of the virtualized industrial automation system 224presented on the communication device 228 of a user based at least inpart on the location of the user (e.g., the location of the user’scommunication device 228 or RFID tag of the user) with respect to theindustrial automation system 206. For example, if the user is located ina first location in relation to the industrial automation system 206,the virtualization component 224 can customize, augment, or filter auser’s view of, and/or the data overlay associated with, the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 as presented on the user’scommunication device 228 so that the user can view a first view of,and/or a first data overlay associated with, the virtualized industrialautomation system 226 (e.g., presenting a first portion of thevirtualized industrial automation system 226) that can correspond to thefirst location (e.g., wherein the first view can comprise an area of theindustrial automation system 206 within a defined distance of the firstlocation), in accordance with the access rights to the user, based atleast in part on the defined virtualization criteria. If the user islocated in a second location in relation to the industrial automationsystem 206 (or moves from the first location to the second location),the virtualization component 224 can update, augment, filter, orcustomize the user’s view of the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 as presented on the user’s communication device 228 so thatthe user can view the second view of, and/or a second data overlayassociated with, the virtualized industrial automation system 226 (e.g.,presenting a second portion of the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226) that can correspond to the second location (e.g., whereinthe second view can comprise an area of the industrial automation system206 within a defined distance of the second location), in accordancewith the access rights to the user, based at least in part on thedefined virtualization criteria.

The virtualization component 224 also can share a customized view (e.g.,personalized view) of, and/or customized data overlay associated with, avirtualized industrial automation system 226 displayed on thecommunication device 228 of a user with a communication device(s) 120 ofanother user(s), in accordance with the defined virtualization criteria(e.g., when another user is authorized to access such customized view orcustomized data overlay on that other user’s communication device,and/or based in part on the role of that other user in connection withthe industrial automation system 206, etc.). For example, a first user(e.g., first operator) can desire to share the first user’s firstcustomized view of, and/or first customized data overlay associatedwith, the virtualized industrial automation system 226 with a seconduser (e.g., second operator, shift supervisor, maintenance engineer,etc.) via the second user’s communication device 228. Alternatively, thesecond user can desire to view the first user’s first customized viewof, and/or first customized data overlay associated with, thevirtualized industrial automation system 226. The first user, using thefirst user’s communication device 228, can select a share control, oralternatively, the second user, using the second user’s communicationdevice 228, can select a share control (e.g., share request control),and information relating to selection of the share control can be sentfrom the communication device 228 to the virtualization component 224.

In response, if the applicable virtualization criteria have beensatisfied (e.g., when it is determined that the second user isauthorized to view the first user’s first customized view of, and/orfirst customized data overlay associated with, the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226), the virtualization component 224 canfacilitate communicating the first user’s first customized view of,and/or first customized data overlay associated with, the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 to the second user’s communicationdevice 228 for presentation to the second user. In some implementations,the first user’s communication device 228 can directly communicate thefirst user’s first customized view of, and/or first customized dataoverlay associated with, the virtualized industrial automation system226 to the second user’s communication device 228 without thevirtualization component 224 having to be involved in the sharingprocess or the virtualization component 224 can manage the authorizationprocess to facilitate determining whether such sharing is permitted,while allowing the first user’s communication device 228 to manage thecommunication of the first customized view and first data overlay to thesecond user’s communication device 228, if such sharing is authorized bythe virtualization component 224.

In some implementations, in addition to or as an alternative to sharinga first user’s customized view of, and/or customized data overlayassociated with, the virtualized industrial automation system 226 withanother user, the virtualization component 224 can facilitate enablingthe first user, using the first user’s communication device 228, toshare, with another user, a filter, a set of filters, or filtersettings, that the first user applied to facilitate generating the firstuser’s customized view of, and/or customized data overlay associatedwith, the virtualized industrial automation system 226. The other user,via interacting with that other user’s communication device 228, canapply the filter, the set of filters, or the filter settings obtainedfrom the first user to the data overlay and/or the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 to facilitate generating the firstuser’s customized view of, and/or customized data overlay associatedwith, the virtualized industrial automation system 226. In response, thevirtualization component 224 can facilitate generating and providing thefirst user’s customized view of, and/or customized data overlayassociated with, the virtualized industrial automation system 226 to thecommunication device 228 of the other user for presentation to the user.

The system 200 also can facilitate enabling users to interact with thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 (e.g., to interact with theaugmented reality representation of the system) to add desiredinformation associated with and/or displayed with the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 to facilitate sharing user-generatedinformation relating to the industrial automation system 206 or otheruser-generated information with other users who can view the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 via communication devices 228. Forinstance, the virtualization component 224 (e.g., via provision of avirtual note generation service or application) can facilitate enablinga user to use the communication device 228 to generate a virtual note,that can comprise desired information (e.g., information relating to aportion (e.g., an industrial device 210, an industrial process 212, anindustrial asset 214, or a network-related device of the networkcomponent 216, etc.) of the industrial automation system 206 representedby the virtualized portion (e.g., a virtualized industrial device 230,virtualized industrial process 232, virtualized industrial asset 234, orvirtualized network-related device of the virtualized network component236, etc.) of the virtualized industrial automation system 226. Avirtual note can be employed, for example, to tag a problem or abnormaloperating condition associated with the portion of the industrialautomation system 206, for use as a shift report (e.g., from a user onone work shift to another user on the next work shift to facilitateproviding desired information to the other user on the next shift), toremind the user (or another user(s)) of something in connection withthat portion of the industrial automation system 206, to notify anotheruser(s) that some work task (e.g., maintenance, repair, or replacementtask, etc.) is to be performed in connection with that portion of theindustrial automation system 206 (e.g., provide a “breadcrumb” trail formaintenance personnel, e.g., by using a virtual note(s) to flag whichmachine requires repair, replacement, or installation of replacementpart), to facilitate remote monitoring or support for an industrialautomation system 206 (e.g., by the entity operating the industrialautomation system 206 or by a 3^(rd)-party entity providing such remotemonitoring or support), or for another desired reason.

The virtualization component 224 can facilitate enabling the user to usethe communication device 228 to apply the virtual note to (e.g., attach,link, associate, place, etc., the virtual note to, with, or on) thevirtualized portion of the virtualized industrial automation system 226.For instance, the user, using the communication device 228, can interact(e.g., via user gestures (e.g., on a touch screen), selections,keystrokes, mouse movements or commands, etc.) with the virtual noteand/or the virtualized portion of the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226, wherein the interaction can indicate that the user isattempting to apply the virtual note on or in proximity to thevirtualized portion of the virtualized industrial automation system 226.For example, the user can interact with the virtual note via thecommunication device 228 to drag-and-drop the virtual note on or inproximity to the virtualized portion of the virtualized industrialautomation system 226. The virtualization component 224 can receiveinformation relating to the user’s interactions with the virtual noteand/or the virtualized portion of the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 from the communication device 228. In response, thevirtualization component 224 can facilitate applying the virtual note onor in proximity to the virtualized portion of the virtualized industrialautomation system 226.

In some implementations, the modeler component 202 can access thevirtual note. The model management component 220 can analyze theinformation (e.g., industrial-automation-system-related data) containedin the virtual note and can accordingly update the model 204 based atleast in part on the information contained in the virtual note. Theupdated model 204 can be stored in the data store 218 and/or can beprovided to the virtualization component 224, wherein the virtualizationcomponent 224 can accordingly update the virtualized industrialautomation system 226 (as appropriate) based at least in part on theupdated model 204.

The virtualization component 224 further can facilitate enabling a user,using the communication device 228, to control the scope of the virtualnote to control the viewability of the virtual note on or associatedwith (e.g., in proximity to) the virtualized portion of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 by another user(s), e.g., on thecommunication device(s) 228 of the other user(s), in accordance with thedefined virtualization criteria (e.g., when the other user is authorizedto access or view the virtual note on that other user’s communicationdevice 228, and/or based in part on the role of that other user inconnection with the industrial automation system 206, etc.). Forinstance, the user, using the communication device 228, can select ascope control associated with the virtual note, and can inputinformation that can indicate the viewability scope of the virtual noteto facilitate controlling which users can view the virtual note.Alternatively or additionally, the virtualization component 224 can setthe viewability scope or specify a minimum or maximum viewability scopefor the virtual note, in accordance with the defined virtualizationcriteria. The scope for a virtual note can range, for example, fromallowing anyone (e.g., regardless of role) to view the virtual note onthe virtualized portion of the virtualized industrial automation system226, to allowing only users (e.g., regardless of role) who are logged inand authenticated with the virtualization component 224 to view thevirtual note on the virtualized portion of the virtualized industrialautomation system 226, to allowing only users who provide authenticationcredentials that indicate they satisfy defined security criteria to viewthe virtual note on the virtualized portion of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226, to allowing only users who have aparticular role(s) to view the virtual note on the virtualized portionof the virtualized industrial automation system 226, to allowing only acertain user(s) specified by the user who created the virtual note toview the virtual note on the virtualized portion of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226, to virtually any other desiredviewability scope, in accordance with the defined virtualizationcriteria.

As an example of using a virtual note, a user, using the user’scommunication device 228, can interact with the user’s personalized viewof the virtualized industrial automation system 226 (e.g., thevirtualized plant) to generate a virtual note and place the virtual note(e.g., a virtualized post-it note) on or near one of the virtual machinerepresentations (e.g., on or near a virtualized industrial device 230)of the virtualized industrial automation system 226. The virtual notecan comprise information from the user (e.g., a maintenance engineer)that can warn other users of an abnormal operating condition observedfor a particular industrial device 210 associated with the virtualizedindustrial device 230. The user, using the communication device 228,also can interact with the scope control to set the viewability scope ofthe virtual note to facilitate controlling who is able to view thevirtual note in connection with the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226. For instance, the user may desire that any user, whoperforms work tasks (e.g., as an operator, supervisor, engineer, etc.)in connection with any portion of the industrial automation system 206that can be affected by the abnormal operating condition for theparticular industrial device 210, should be able to view the virtualnote. The user, using the communication device 228, can interact withthe scope control and/or enter information that can indicate that suchusers are permitted to view the virtual note in connection with viewingthe virtualized industrial automation system 226 (e.g., viewing thevirtualized industrial device 230). The virtualization component 224 canreceive information relating to the interaction with the scope controland/or associated information, and, in response, the virtualizationcomponent 224 can set and enforce the viewability scope to allow suchusers to view the virtual note via their communication devices 228 andto not allow other users to view the virtual note via theircommunication devices 228.

By enabling users to generate and share user-generated informationrelating to the industrial automation system 206, the virtualizationcomponent 224 can facilitate further augmenting the data-driven plantvirtualizations (e.g., virtualized industrial automation system) topresent users with user-provided data to facilitate the sharing ofknowledge or observations relating to the industrial automation system206 with other users. This can enable users to work more efficiently andthe industrial automation system 206 to operate more efficiently.

In some implementations, the virtualization component 224 can facilitatesecuring or controlling access to the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 and the industrial automation system 206, in accordance withthe defined virtualization criteria, to facilitate mitigating securityrisks associated with presenting the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 to communication devices of users and/or the execution ofcontrol commands via the system 200 (e.g., the cloud-based system). Thevirtualization component 224 can control access to the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 and the industrial automation system206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrial automation system 226),control access to a particular customized view or customized dataoverlay associated with the virtualized industrial automation system226, and/or control access to user-generated information (e.g.,contained in a virtual note), based at least in part on identity of auser, authentication information (e.g., username, password, passphrase,personal identification number (PIN), biometric information, or otherunique identification information) associated with of a user, locationof the user (or location of the user’s communication device 228 or RFIDtag) in relation to the industrial automation system 206, a viewabilityscope setting, preferences of a user, or other defined virtualizationcriteria.

For example, if a user attempts to use the user’s communication device228 to access the virtualized industrial automation system 226 tofacilitate controlling the associated industrial automation system 206,the virtualization component 224 can request that the user provide validauthentication information to the virtualization component 224 thatindicates the user is authorized to gain such access to the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 and/or authorized to perform an action(e.g., adjust a virtualized control or switch) with respect to thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 or industrial automationsystem 206. In some implementations, the virtualization component 224can grant respective types of access rights to the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 and the industrial automation system206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrial automation system 226) torespective users based at least in part on respective access permissionsof the respective users and respective authentication information of therespective users, wherein the respective access permissions or rightscan be associated with (e.g., mapped or linked to) the respectiveauthentication information of the respective users. The accesspermissions or rights to the virtualized industrial automation system226 and the industrial automation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226) can relate to the portion(s) of thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 that can be accessed by auser, the commands that can be issued by the user or the portion(s) ofthe virtualized industrial automation system 226 (and correspondingportion(s) of the industrial automation system 206) that can becontrolled by a user, etc. The virtualization component 224 can grant,to respective users, respective (e.g., different) access permissions orrights the virtualized industrial automation system 226 and theindustrial automation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrialautomation system 226) based at least in part on the respective roles ofthe respective users in connection with the industrial automation system206 or associated industrial enterprise, a location of a user inrelation to the industrial automation system 206, or other definedvirtualization criteria.

If a user does not provide acceptable (e.g., valid) authenticationinformation, or is not within a defined distance of a portion (e.g., anindustrial device 210, industrial process 212, industrial asset 214,network-related device of the network component 216, etc.) of theindustrial automation system 206 that the user is attempting to controlvia a command, the virtualization component 224 can deny the user accessto the virtualized industrial automation system 226 and the industrialautomation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226) or can limit the access rights of the user to thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 and the industrialautomation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226) to allow the user to only issue a certain limited subset ofcommands to facilitate controlling the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 and the industrial automation system 206 (e.g., via thevirtualized industrial automation system 226).

In some implementations, the virtualization component 224 can employdifferent levels of authentication to a user to facilitate determiningaccess permissions or rights that are to be granted to the user to allowaccess to the virtualized industrial automation system 226 and theindustrial automation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrialautomation system 226) based at least in part on the location (e.g.,detected location) of the user (or the user’s communication device 228or identification tag (e.g., RFID tag)) in relation to the industrialautomation system 206, in accordance with the defined virtualizationcriteria. For instance, if the user (or the user’s communication device228 or identification tag) is within a defined distance of the portionof the industrial automation system 206 that the user is attempting tocontrol via the virtualized industrial automation system 226 presentedby the communication device 228 (e.g., within the facility that containsthe portion of the industrial automation system 206), the virtualizationcomponent 224 can control access to the portion of the industrialautomation system 206 via the virtualized industrial automation system226 presented by the communication device 228 based at least in part ona first level of authentication (and a corresponding first type ofauthentication information (e.g., authentication credentials)) that canbe lower (e.g., less stringent) than a second level of authentication(and a corresponding second type (e.g., higher or more strict type) ofauthentication information) associated with a second location of theuser (or the user’s communication device 228 or identification tag) thatis not within a defined distance of the portion of the industrialautomation system 206 that the user is attempting to control via thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 presented by thecommunication device 228. If the user (or the user’s communicationdevice 228 or identification tag) is in the second location (or is notdetected as being located within the defined distance of the portion ofthe industrial automation system 206), the virtualization component 224can control access to the portion of the industrial automation system206 via the virtualized industrial automation system 226 presented bythe communication device 228 based at least in part on the second levelof authentication (and a corresponding second type of authenticationinformation).

The virtualization component 224 can control access to the portion ofthe industrial automation system 206 to grant a first (e.g., lower)level of access rights to the user in response to receiving the firsttype of authentication information, and can grant a second (e.g.,higher) level of access rights to the user in response to receiving thesecond type of authentication information, wherein the second levelaccess rights can allow the user to use the communication device 228 tohave more access to the virtualized industrial automation system and theindustrial automation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrialautomation system 226) or more rights to issue commands in connectionwith the virtualized industrial automation system 226 and the industrialautomation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226) than the first level of access rights associated with thefirst type of authentication information. As an example, the first typeof authentication information can comprise detection (e.g., by thevirtualization component 224) of a device identifier of thecommunication device 228 or RFID tag of the user within the defineddistance of the portion of the industrial automation system 206 that theuser is attempting to control via the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226 presented by the communication device 228, and the secondtype of authentication information can comprise a valid username,password, and/or biometric information associated with the user when theuser (or the user’s communication device 228 or identification tag) islocated in the second location (or is not detected as being locatedwithin the defined distance of the portion of the industrial automationsystem 206), e.g., as detected by the virtualization component 224. Itis to be appreciated and understood that, in accordance with variousother implementations, additionally or alternatively, the virtualizationcomponent 224 can implement and enforce various other authenticationpolicies in connection with controlling access to the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226 and the industrial automation system206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrial automation system 226) byusers, in accordance with the defined virtualization criteria. Forexample, the virtualization component 224 can implement and enforcevarious different authentication policies based at least in part on therole of the user with respect to the industrial automation system 206,the type of action or task the user is attempting to perform on thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 and the industrialautomation system 206 (e.g., via the virtualized industrial automationsystem 226), identification of the communication device 228 (e.g., basedat least in part on the device identifier associated with the device(e.g., mobile subscriber integrated services digital network-number(MSISDN), media access control (MAC) address, etc.)) associated with theuser, and/or another authentication policy or criterion, in accordancewith the defined virtualization criteria.

In some implementations, to facilitate desirable (e.g., favorable,beneficial, efficient, etc.) performance of the industrial automationsystem 206, the virtualization component 224 or modeler component 202(e.g., employing or comprising a simulation component) can facilitategenerating simulation models of the industrial automation system 206 fora number of desired purposes. For example, prior to adjusting avirtualized control or virtualized switch associated with a virtualizedindustrial device 230 of the virtualized industrial automation system226 in connection with a corresponding industrial device 210 of theindustrial automation system 206, the simulation component (e.g., inresponse to a request from a user via a communication device 228) cansimulate operation of the industrial automation system 206 in responseto the adjusting of the virtualized control or the virtualized switchassociated with the virtualized industrial device 230 of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226, based at least in part on thesimulation model of the industrial automation system 206 (e.g.,generated by the modeler component 202), to facilitate determiningwhether the industrial automation system 206 will operate desirably(e.g., adequately, properly, optimally, etc.) in response to theadjusting of the virtualized control or the virtualized switchassociated with the virtualized industrial device 230 of the virtualizedindustrial automation system 226. Based at least in part on a result ofthe simulated operation of the industrial automation system 206, thevirtualization component 224 or the user can determine whether to adjustthe virtualized control or the virtualized switch associated with thevirtualized industrial device 230 of the virtualized industrialautomation system 226 to remotely control the operation of theindustrial automation system 206, in accordance with the set of definedoperation criteria (which can be part of the set of definedvirtualization criteria).

To facilitate generating a simulation model of the industrial automationsystem 206, the simulation component can analyze the set of datarelating to the industrial automation system 206 and/or the otherindustrial automation system to facilitate simulating or emulating theindustrial automation system 206 and its constituent industrial devices210, industrial processes 212, other industrial assets 214, and/ornetwork-related devices of the network component 216. Based at least inpart on the results of the analysis of the set of data, the simulationcomponent can simulate or emulate (e.g., determine and/or generate asimulation or an emulation for) the industrial automation system 206,including determining respectively simulating or emulating therespective industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, otherindustrial assets 214, and network-related devices of the networkcomponent 216, simulating or emulating the interrelationships (e.g.,system configuration, connections, etc.) between the respectiveindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, other industrialassets 214, and network-related devices of the network component 216,and/or simulating or emulating the properties, characteristics,functions, etc., of the respective devices, processes, and/or assets ofthe industrial automation system 206, etc.

The simulation component can generate a simulation model of theindustrial automation system 206 based at least in part on thesimulation or emulation of the industrial automation system 206,including the respective simulations or emulations of the respectiveindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, other industrialassets 214, and network-related devices of the network component 216,simulations or emulations of the interrelationships (e.g., systemconfiguration, connections, etc.) between the respective industrialdevices 210, industrial processes 212, other industrial assets 214, andnetwork-related devices of the network component 216, etc.

When a set of operation data is applied to the simulation model (e.g.,model 204 employed and/or modified for use in a simulation), a responseor behavior of the simulation model can be generated. The modelercomponent 202 or virtualization component 224 can utilize the responseor behavior produced by the simulation model in response to theapplication of the set of operation data to the simulation model tofacilitate determining or predicting how the industrial automationsystem 206 will respond (or is expected to respond) when the set ofoperation data is applied to the industrial automation system 206, andto facilitate determining whether an action (e.g., modification of theindustrial automation system 206, adjusting a virtualized control orswitch associated with the virtualized industrial automation system 226or corresponding control or switch associated with the industrialautomation system 206, etc.) is to be performed in connection with thevirtualized industrial automation system 226 or the industrialautomation system 206. The modeler component 202 or virtualizationcomponent 224 can store the simulation model of the industrialautomation system 206, and/or response information relating todetermined or predicted responses based on the simulation model, in thedata store 218.

It is to be appreciated and understood that, while the modeler component202 and/or virtualization component 224 can generate graphicalrepresentations and/or virtualizations of the various industrial devices210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214, network-relateddevices of the network component 216, etc., or one or more respectiveinstances (e.g., virtualized instances) of the various industrialdevices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214,network-related devices, etc., (as represented in the variousvirtualized industrial devices 230, virtualized industrial processes232, virtualized industrial assets 234, virtualized network-relateddevices of the virtualized network component 236) the disclosed subjectmatter is not so limited. In some implementations, another modelercomponent and/or another virtualization component, for example,associated with a third-party vendor, can generate all or some of themodels, graphical representations, and/or virtualizations of the variousindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214,network-related devices of the network component 216, etc., or one ormore respective instances (e.g., virtualized instances) of the variousindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214,network-related devices, etc. The modeler component 202 and/orvirtualization component 224 can receive information relating to themodels, graphical representations, and/or virtualizations of the variousindustrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214,network-related devices, etc., or one or more respective instances(e.g., virtualized instances) of the various industrial devices 210,industrial processes 212, industrial assets 214, network-relateddevices, etc., generated by the other modeler component or othervirtualization component. Regardless of the source of the models,graphical representations, or virtualizations associated with theindustrial automation system 204, the modeler component 202 (e.g., viathe model management component 220) and/or virtualization component 224can facilitate managing the models, graphical representations, and/orvirtualizations of the various industrial devices 210, industrialprocesses 212, industrial assets 214, network-related devices, etc., orone or more respective instances (e.g., virtualized instances) of thevarious industrial devices 210, industrial processes 212, industrialassets 214, network-related devices, etc., and can facilitate managing(e.g., controlling) the various industrial devices 210, industrialprocesses 212, industrial assets 214, network-related devices, etc., ofthe industrial automation system 206.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 300 that canfacilitate performing an inventory of assets of an industrial automationsystem to facilitate modeling and virtualization of the industrialautomation system, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter. The system 300 can comprise a modelercomponent 302, a model management component 304, an industrialautomation system 306, a collection component 308, industrial devices310, industrial processes 312, other industrial assets 314, a networkcomponent 316, a data store 318, and a communication device 320.

In some implementations, some or all of the industrial devices 310,industrial processes 312, other assets 314 and network-related devicesof the network component 316 of an industrial automation system(s) 306can comprise respective information provider components, such asinformation provider components 322, 324, 326, and 328, wherein therespective information provider components 322, 324, 326, and 328 cancomprise and provide (e.g., communicate, present) respective informationregarding the respective industrial devices 310, industrial processes312, other assets 314 and network-related devices of the networkcomponent 316 of the industrial automation system(s) 306 to the modelercomponent 302, for example, via respective cloud gateway components orvia the communication device 320. Some or all of the industrial devices310, industrial processes 312, other assets 314 and network-relateddevices of the network component 316 can comprise respective cloudgateway components, such as cloud gateway components 330, 332, 334, and336. The respective cloud gateway components 330, 332, 334, and 336 canfacilitate communication of information between the cloud platform,including the modeler component 302 (and/or virtualization component) inthe cloud platform, and the respective industrial devices 310,industrial processes 312, other assets 314 and network-related devicesof the network component 316 of the industrial automation system 306.

The respective information provider components 322, 324, 326, and 328can be equipped with or associated with components, tools, functions,etc., that can allow the model management component 304 to inventory therespective industrial devices 310, industrial processes 312, otherassets 314 and network-related devices of the network component 316 toobtain information regarding the respective industrial devices 310,industrial processes 312, other assets 314 and network-related devicesof the network component 316 from them. The model management component304 can utilize such information to facilitate generating a model of theindustrial automation system(s) 306 based at least in part on suchinventory of the respective industrial devices 310, industrial processes312, other assets 314 and network-related devices of the networkcomponent 316.

The model management component 304 can comprise a discovery component338 that can poll (e.g., transmit queries, request information from) therespective industrial devices 310, industrial processes 312, otherindustrial assets 314, and/or network-related devices of the networkcomponent 316 via the respective cloud gateway components 330, 332, 334,336 to facilitate obtaining the information regarding the respectiveindustrial devices 310, industrial processes 312, other industrialassets 314, and/or network-related devices of the network component 316from the respective information provider components 322, 324, 326, and328. In accordance with various implementations, the respective cloudgateway components 330, 332, 334, 336 can be associated with (e.g.,communicatively connected to) and/or integrated with the respectiveindustrial devices 310, industrial processes 312, other industrialassets 314, and/or network-related devices of the network component 316,wherein the respective cloud gateway components 330, 332, 334, 336 canenable the respective information provider components 322, 324, 326, and328 to communicate with the modeler component 302 in the cloud tofacilitate the discovery component 338 detecting, discovering, obtaininginformation from, the respective industrial devices 310, industrialprocesses 312, other industrial assets 314, and/or network-relateddevices of the network component 316 of the industrial automationsystem(s) 306.

With regard to the respective industrial devices 310, industrialprocesses 312, other industrial assets 314, and/or network-relateddevices of the network component 316, the information can comprise, forexample, respective pre-deployed models of the respective industrialdevices 310, industrial processes 312, other industrial assets 314,and/or network-related devices of the network component 316, respectiveidentification information (e.g., respective identifiers) that canrespectively identify the respective industrial devices 310, industrialprocesses 312, other industrial assets 314, and/or network-relateddevices of the network component 316, respective configurationinformation that can respectively identify a configuration of therespective industrial devices 310, industrial processes 312, otherindustrial assets 314, and/or network-related devices of the networkcomponent 316, respective contextual information relating to respectiveindustrial assets (e.g., 310, 312, 314) or network-related devices,information relating functional or geographical relationships betweenrespective industrial assets (e.g., 310, 312, 314) or between anindustrial asset (e.g., 310, 312, or 314) and a network-related deviceof the network component 316, information relating to a layout (e.g.,functional layout, logic layout, geographical layout) of the industrialautomation system 306, communication network connections, or otherinformation.

In some implementations, the discovery component 338 can employ one ormore detection or discovery techniques, tools, functions, etc., tofacilitate detecting, discovering, and/or identifying industrial devices310, industrial processes 312, other industrial assets 314, and/ornetwork-related devices of the network component 316 (e.g., newly addedindustrial devices 310, industrial processes 312, other industrialassets 314, and/or network-related devices) of the industrial automationsystem 306. For example, the discovery component 338, and/or therespective information provider components 322, 324, 326, and 328, canuse WHO techniques combined with ping techniques to facilitatedetecting, discovering, and/or identifying industrial devices 310,industrial processes 312, other industrial assets 314, and/ornetwork-related devices of the network component 316 of the industrialautomation system 306.

In still other implementations, the system 300 can comprise a meshnetwork component 340 that can be associated with the modeler component302 in the cloud platform via a cloud gateway component 342 associatedwith (e.g., integrated with (as depicted), communicatively connected to)the mesh network component 340. The mesh network component 340 can be orcan comprise a wireless mesh network appliance, for example. The meshnetwork component 340 can obtain and gather respective informationrelating to the respective industrial devices 310, industrial processes312, other industrial assets 314, and/or network-related devices of thenetwork component 316 of the industrial automation system 306, forexample, via the respective information provider components 322, 324,326, and 328, or via the communication device 320. The mesh networkcomponent 340 can provide (e.g., communicate) such information to themodeler component 302 in the cloud via the cloud gateway component 342.

In some implementations, an industrial automation system 306 can containlegacy industrial assets (e.g., legacy industrial devices or otherlegacy industrial assets) or legacy network-related devices that do notcomprise or are not directly associated with a cloud gateway component.The communication device 320 (e.g., a laptop computer, a mobile phone,an electronic tablet, electronic eyeglasses, or other type ofcommunication device) can be employed to facilitate inventorying (e.g.,locally inventorying) and collecting information relating to such legacyindustrial assets or legacy network-related devices.

The communication device 320 can comprise a capture component 344 thatcan comprise a camera that can be used to take one or more pictures, orvideo, of legacy industrial assets, legacy network-related devices,other industrial assets or network-related devices in proximity to thelegacy industrial assets or legacy network-related devices, and/or anarea of the plant in proximity to a legacy industrial asset or legacynetwork-related device. For example, the capture component 344 can takea picture or video of a nameplate or other identifier information on alegacy industrial asset or legacy network-related device to facilitateidentifying the legacy industrial asset or legacy network-relateddevice. The capture component 344 also can take a picture or video of arelationship (e.g., functional relationship (e.g., connection(s)),geographical relationship), for example, between a first industrialasset and another industrial asset(s).

In some implementations, the communication device 320 can comprise arecognizer component 346 that can analyze a photograph or video of oneor more industrial assets and/or network-related devices, and canrecognize (e.g. using pattern or OCR recognition) or identify a legacyindustrial asset or legacy network-related device, a relationshipbetween industrial assets, and/or a relationship between an industrialasset and a network-related device, based at least in part oninformation obtained via the photograph or video. In otherimplementations, the recognizer component can reside in the cloud (e.g.,in the modeler component 302), wherein the photograph or video can bereceived by the recognizer component in the cloud and analyzed by therecognizer component to facilitate recognizing or identifying a legacyindustrial asset or legacy network-related device, a relationshipbetween industrial assets, and/or a relationship between an industrialasset and a network-related device. Information relating to legacyindustrial assets or legacy network-related devices also can be input tothe communication device 320 by a user via a keyboard, keypad, or audiointerface (e.g., a microphone) and communicated to the discoverycomponent 338 or collection component 308 by the communication device320.

The communication device 320 also can comprise a processor component 348that can operate in conjunction with the other components (e.g., capturecomponent 344) to facilitate performing the various functions andoperations of the communication device 320. The processor component 348can employ one or more processors (e.g., central processing units(CPUs), graphical processing units (GPUs), field-programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), etc.), microprocessors, or controllers that can processdata, such as industrial-automation-system-related data (e.g., devicedata, process data, asset data, system data, etc.) associated withindustrial automation systems, customer or client related data, datarelating to parameters associated with an industrial automation system,etc., to facilitate communicating respective information relating torespective industrial assets or network-related devices to the modelercomponent 302 or other component (e.g., in the cloud platform), orperforming other discovery or identification related operations; and cancontrol data flow between the communication device 320 and othercomponents associated with the communication device 320.

In yet another aspect, the communication device 320 can contain a datastore 350 that can store data structures (e.g., user data, metadata);code structure(s) (e.g., modules, objects, classes, procedures),commands, or instructions; industrial-automation-system-related data(e.g., including pictures or video) or other data associated withindustrial automation systems or industrial enterprises; customer orclient related information; parameter data; algorithms (e.g.,algorithm(s) relating to recognizing or identifying respectiveindustrial devices, industrial processes, industrial assets,network-related devices, interrelationships between such devices,processes, or assets); and so on. In an aspect, the processor component348 can be functionally coupled (e.g., through a memory bus) to the datastore 350 in order to store and retrieve data desired to operate and/orconfer functionality, at least in part, to the capture component 344,recognizer component 346, etc., of the communication device 320 and/orsubstantially any other operational aspects of the communication device320. It is to be appreciated and understood that the various componentsof the communication device 320 can communicate data, instructions, orsignals between each other and/or between other components associatedwith the communication device 320 as desired to carry out operations ofthe communication device 320. It is to be further appreciated andunderstood that respective components (e.g., capture component 344,recognizer component 346, etc.) of the communication device 320 each canbe a stand-alone unit, can be included within the communication device320 (as depicted), can be incorporated within another component of thecommunication device 320 or a component separate from the communicationdevice 320, and/or virtually any suitable combination thereof, asdesired.

In certain implementations, the system 300 can comprise a segmentercomponent 352 that can be located at the local (e.g., plant) level or inthe cloud platform. The segmenter component 352 can be associated withthe industrial automation system 306, communication device 320, and/ormesh network component 340. The segmenter component 352 can classify,determine, filter, and/or segment respective data with regard to datathat can be provided to the cloud platform (e.g., to the modelercomponent 302 in the cloud) and data that is not to be provided to thecloud (e.g., to the modeler component 302 in the cloud) based at leastin part on one or more preferences (e.g., enterprise entitypreference(s), user preference(s)). The one or more preferences can bedetermined or selected based at least in part on the respective levelsof data sensitivity of respective items of data associated with theindustrial automation system 306, as such respective levels of datasensitivity are determined or assigned to the respective data by theenterprise entity or other user. In certain implementations, thesegmenter component 352 can have a slider component (e.g., a graphicalslider component) or other control that can be manipulated (e.g., moved)by a user to facilitate setting the respective levels of datasensitivity for respective types of data associated with the industrialautomation system 306.

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of an example system 400 that canfacilitate identifying a user or device that is attempting to obtain anIP address associated with an industrial automation system, inaccordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter. The system 400 can comprise a modeler component 402, a modelmanagement component 404, an industrial automation system 406, acollection component 408, industrial devices 410, industrial processes412, other industrial assets 414, a network component 416, and a datastore 418.

The system 400 also can comprise an interrogator component 420 that canfacilitate identifying a user or device that is attempting to obtain anIP address associated with the industrial automation system 406. Forinstance, at any given time, the interrogator component 420 can identifywhat devices (e.g., computer, mobile phone, electronic pad or table,industrial device, or other device) are on the network associated withthe industrial automation system 406. The interrogator component 420 canemploy one or more tools or techniques (e.g., troubleshooting orassistance tools or techniques) to facilitate identifying what user ordevice is trying to obtain an IP address in connection with theindustrial automation system 406 (e.g., the network component 416 of theindustrial automation system 406). In accordance with variousimplementations, the interrogator component 420 can be located at thelocal or plant level, or can be located in the cloud platform. Forexample, the interrogator component 420 can reside between the machinenetwork and plant network, and can report (e.g., communicate) data, suchas network-related or architecture data, to the modeler component 402 inthe cloud for use by the modeler component 402 in generating or updatingthe model of the industrial automation system 406.

With further regard to FIGS. 1-4 , the model management component 120 orvirtualization component 224 can generate, manage, update, or controlthe type of virtualized view, size of a virtualized view, shape of avirtualized view, size, shape, or color of an item presented in amodeled view or a virtualized view, etc., of the model (e.g., 104) orvirtualized industrial automation system (e.g., 206) based at least inpart on user preferences or user interaction with the model or thevirtualized industrial automation system via the communication device(e.g., 228), or automatically or dynamically in response to anoccurrence of an event(s) associated with the industrial automationsystem (e.g., 106, 206), in accordance with the defined modelingcriteria or defined virtualization criteria. For example, the modelmanagement component 120 or virtualization component 224 can generate ahybrid modeled or virtualized view that can be can be apicture-in-picture (PIP) view, wherein the first modeled or virtualizedview can cover a larger portion of the display screen of thecommunication device (e.g., 228) and the second modeled or virtualizedview can cover a relatively smaller portion of the display screen of thecommunication device. If an event (e.g., fluid spill, motor problem,etc.) occurs in the second portion of the industrial automation system(e.g., 106, 206), the model management component 120 or virtualizationcomponent 224 can modify (e.g., dynamically or automatically modify oradjust) the hybrid modeled or virtualized view to increase the size ofthe second modeled or virtualized view and/or decrease the size of thefirst modeled or virtualized view as displayed on the display screen ofthe communication device, reverse (e.g., dynamically or automaticallyreverse) the display of the first modeled or virtualized view and secondmodeled or virtualized view so that the second modeled or virtualizedview covers the larger portion of the display screen and the firstmodeled or virtualized view covers the smaller portion of the displayscreen, or can send a prompt, notification, or alert to thecommunication device to notify the user that an event has occurred inthe second portion of the industrial automation system (e.g., 106, 206)and recommending that the second modeled or virtualized view be modified(e.g., in response to the user interacting with the hybrid modeled orvirtualized view of the model or virtualized industrial automationsystem via the communication device).

The model management component 120, virtualization component 224, and/orthe communication device (e.g., 228) also can facilitate enabling a userto adjust the size of a modeled view or virtualized view of theindustrial automation system. For example, in response to userinteraction (e.g., a gesture or command) with the model or virtualizedindustrial automation system via the communication device that indicatesthat the user is attempting to increase the size of a portion of theview of the model or the virtualized industrial automation system, themodel management component 120, virtualization component 224, and/or thecommunication device (e.g., 228) can zoom in or drill down to thatportion of the view to increase or magnify the size of that portion ofthe view on the display screen of the communication device. If the sizeof the modeled or virtualized view is greater than the size of thedisplay screen of the communication device, the model managementcomponent 120, virtualization component 224, and/or the communicationdevice (e.g., 228) can facilitate providing a scroll bar or otherfunction that can allow a user to maintain the relatively larger size ofthe modeled or virtualized view, while enabling the user to interactwith the model or virtualized industrial automation system to viewdifferent areas of the model or virtualized industrial automation system(e.g., by moving a different area of the model or virtualized industrialautomation system that is outside the display screen so that it isdisplayed on the display screen). The model management component 120,virtualization component 224, and/or the communication device (e.g.,228) also can facilitate presenting a keyboard (e.g., a pop-uptouchscreen keyboard) and/or mouse (e.g., virtual or touchscreen mouse)on the display screen of the communication device to facilitate enablinga user to interact with the display screen to input data, select, move,or modify items, and/or interact with the model or virtualizedindustrial automation system, etc.

As disclosed herein, the modeler system (e.g., 100, 300) and/orvirtualization system (e.g., comprising the virtualization component ofthe system 200), or respective portions thereof, can be located in acloud platform. To provide a general context for the cloud-based modelersystem, cloud-based virtualization system, and services describedherein, FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a high-level overview ofan example industrial enterprise 500 that can leverage cloud-basedservices, including modeling and virtualization services, datacollection services, and data storage services, in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. Theindustrial enterprise 500 can comprise one or more industrialfacilities, such as industrial facility₁ 504 ₁ up through industrialfacility_(N) 504 _(N), wherein each industrial facilitate can include anumber of industrial devices in use. For example, industrial facility₁504 ₁ can comprise industrial device₁ 508 ₁ up through industrialdevice_(N) 508 _(N), and industrial facility_(N) 504 _(N) can compriseindustrial device₁ 510 ₁ up through industrial device_(N) 510 _(N). Theindustrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510 _(N), etc.) canmake up one or more industrial automation systems that can operatewithin the respective industrial facilities (e.g., industrial facility₁504 ₁ up through industrial facility_(N) 504 _(N)). Exemplary industrialautomation systems can include, but are not limited to, batch controlsystems (e.g., mixing systems), continuous control systems (e.g.,proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control systems), or discretecontrol systems. Industrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510_(N), etc.) can include such industrial devices as industrialcontrollers (e.g., programmable logic controllers or other types ofprogrammable automation controllers); field devices such as sensors andmeters; motor drives; HMIs; industrial robots, barcode markers, andreaders; vision system devices (e.g., vision cameras); smart welders; orother types of industrial devices.

Exemplary industrial automation systems can include one or moreindustrial controllers that can facilitate monitoring and controlling oftheir respective industrial processes. The industrial controllers canexchange data with the field devices using native hardwired input/output(I/O) or via a plant network, such as Ethernet/Internet Protocol (IP),Data Highway Plus, ControlNet, Devicenet, or the like. A givenindustrial controller typically can receive any combination of digitalor analog signals from the field devices that can indicate a currentstate of the industrial devices and/or their associated industrialprocesses (e.g., temperature, position, part presence or absence, fluidlevel, etc.), and can execute a user-defined control program that canperform automated decision-making for the controlled industrialprocesses based on the received signals. The industrial controller canoutput appropriate digital and/or analog control signaling to the fielddevices in accordance with the decisions made by the control program.These outputs can include device actuation signals, temperature orposition control signals, operational commands to a machining ormaterial handling robot, mixer control signals, motion control signals,and the like. The control program can comprise any suitable type of codethat can be used to process input signals read into the controller andto control output signals generated by the industrial controller,including, but not limited to, ladder logic, sequential function charts,function block diagrams, structured text, or other such platforms.

Although the exemplary overview illustrated in FIG. 5 depicts theindustrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510 _(N)) as residingin fixed-location industrial facilities (e.g., industrial facility₁ 504₁ up through industrial facility_(N) 504 _(N), respectively), in someimplementations, the industrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁,and/or 510 _(N)) also can be part of a mobile control and/or monitoringapplication, such as a system contained in a truck or other servicevehicle.

According to one or more embodiments of the disclosed subject matter,industrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510 _(N), etc.) can becoupled to a cloud platform 502 to facilitate leveraging cloud-basedapplications and services (e.g., data collection services, data storageservices, modeling services, virtualization services, etc.) associatedwith the cloud platform 502. That is, the industrial devices (e.g., 508₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510 _(N), etc.) can be configured to discover andinteract with cloud-based computing services 512 that can be hosted bythe cloud platform 502. The cloud platform 502 can be any infrastructurethat can allow cloud services 512 (e.g., cloud-based computing services,shared computing services) to be accessed and utilized by cloud-capabledevices. The cloud platform 502 can be a public cloud that can beaccessible via a public network, such as the Internet, by devices havingpublic network connectivity (e.g., Internet connectivity) andappropriate authorizations to utilize the cloud services 512. In somescenarios, the cloud platform 502 can be provided by a cloud provider asa platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and/or reliability-as-a-service (RaaS),and the cloud services 512 can reside and execute on the cloud platform502 as a cloud-based service. In some such configurations, access to thecloud platform 502 and associated cloud services 512 can be provided tocustomers as a subscription service by an owner of the cloud services512. Additionally and/or alternatively, the cloud platform 502 can be aprivate cloud that can be operated internally by the industrialenterprise 500 or an associated enterprise associated with a third-partyentity. An exemplary private cloud platform can comprise a set ofservers that can host the cloud services 512 and can reside on a privatenetwork (e.g., an intranet, a corporate network, etc.) that can beprotected by a firewall.

The cloud services 512 can include, but are not limited to, datacollection, data storage, data analysis, control applications (e.g.,applications that can generate and deliver control instructions toindustrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510 _(N), etc.) basedat least in part on analysis of real-time or near real-time system dataor other factors), remote monitoring and support, generation andmanagement of a model(s) of an industrial automation system(s) that cancorrespond to the industrial automation system(s), generation andmanagement of a virtualized industrial automation system(s) that cancorrespond to an industrial automation system(s), remote control of anindustrial automation system(s) via a model(s) or virtualized industrialautomation system(s), customization of a model(s) or virtualizedindustrial automation system and/or a data overlay on the virtualizedindustrial automation system, generation of virtual notes, view sharing(e.g., sharing of customized view of, customized data overlay associatedwith, and/or a virtual note associated with, a virtualized industrialautomation system), provision of security in connection with a model orvirtualized industrial automation system and an associated industrialautomation system, or provision of other applications or servicesrelating to industrial automation. If the cloud platform 502 is aweb-based cloud, industrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510_(N), etc.) at the respective industrial facilities 504 can interactwith cloud services 512 via the public network (e.g., the Internet). Inan exemplary configuration, the industrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508_(N), 510 ₁, 510 _(N), etc.) can access the cloud services 512 throughseparate cloud gateways (e.g., cloud gateway component 506 _(1M) upthrough cloud gateway component 506 _(NM)) at the respective industrialfacilities (e.g., industrial facility₁ 504 ₁ up through industrialfacility_(N) 504 _(N), respectively), wherein the industrial devices(e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510 _(N), etc.) can connect to therespective cloud gateway components (e.g., cloud gateway component 506_(1M) up through cloud gateway component 506 _(NM)) through a physical(e.g., wireline) or wireless local area network or radio link. Inanother exemplary configuration, the industrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁,508 _(N), 510 ₁, 510 _(N), etc.) can access the cloud platform 502directly using an integrated cloud gateway service. Cloud gatewaycomponents (e.g., cloud gateway component 506 _(1M) up through cloudgateway component 506 _(NM)) also can comprise an integrated componentof a network infrastructure device, such as a firewall box, router, orswitch.

Providing industrial devices with cloud capability via the cloud gatewaycomponents (e.g., cloud gateway component 506 _(1M) up through cloudgateway component 506 _(NM)) can offer a number of advantages particularto industrial automation. For instance, cloud-based storage (e.g.,cloud-based data store) offered by the cloud platform 502 can be easilyscaled to accommodate the large quantities of data that can be generateddaily by an industrial enterprise. Further, multiple industrialfacilities (e.g., industrial facility₁ 504 ₁ up through industrialfacility_(N) 504 _(N)) at different geographical locations can migrate(e.g., communicate) their respective industrial automation data to thecloud platform 502 (e.g., via the collection component) for aggregation,collation, collective big data analysis, and enterprise-level reportingwithout the need to establish a private network between the respectiveindustrial facilities. Industrial devices (e.g., 508 ₁, 508 _(N), 510 ₁,510 _(N), etc.) and/or cloud gateway components (e.g., cloud gatewaycomponent 506 _(1M) up through cloud gateway component 506 _(NM)) havingsmart configuration capability can be configured to automatically detectand communicate with the cloud platform 502 upon installation at anyfacility, which can thereby simplify integration with existingcloud-based data storage, analysis, or reporting applications used bythe industrial enterprise 500. In another exemplary application,cloud-based modeling applications (e.g., employed by the modeler systemcomprising the modeler component) can access the data relating to anindustrial automation system(s) stored in the cloud-based data store,can generate and/or update a model(s) of an industrial automationsystem(s), wherein the model(s) can accurately depict or represent thelayout and device make-up, and operation, of the industrial automationsystem(s) to facilitate desirable (e.g., optimal, suitable) operation ofthe industrial automation system(s) and remote interaction with theindustrial automation system(s) by users (e.g., via a communicationdevice) to facilitate remote performance of tasks in connection with theindustrial automation system(s). In still another exemplary application,cloud-based virtualization applications (e.g., utilized by thevirtualization system comprising the virtualization component) canaccess the data (e.g., model data or other relevant data) relating to anindustrial automation system(s) stored in the cloud-based data store,can generate and/or update a virtualized industrial automation systemthat can present a virtualized view of an industrial automation systemand its operation, remotely control the industrial automation system inresponse to interaction with (e.g., user interaction to virtuallycontrol) a corresponding virtualized industrial automation system,customize a virtualized view of the industrial automation system(s) fora user (e.g., based at least in part on one or more customizationfactors associated with the user), provide security comprisingcontrolling access to the virtualized industrial automation system andcorresponding industrial automation system (e.g., based at least in parton authentication credentials of users and access rights of users), asmore fully disclosed herein. These industrial cloud-computingapplications are only intended to be exemplary, and the systems andmethods described herein are not limited to these particularapplications. As these examples demonstrate, the cloud platform 502,working with cloud gateway components (e.g., cloud gateway component 506_(1M) up through cloud gateway component 506 _(NM)), can allow buildersof industrial applications to provide scalable solutions as a service,removing the burden of maintenance, upgrading, and backup of theunderlying infrastructure and framework.

FIG. 6 presents a block diagram of an exemplary modeler component 600(e.g., cloud-based, or partially cloud-based, modeler component)according to various implementations and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. The modeler component 600 can be part of a modelersystem (e.g., a cloud-based modeler system). Aspects of the systems,apparatuses, or processes explained in this disclosure can constitutemachine-executable components embodied within machine(s), e.g., embodiedin one or more computer-readable mediums (or media) associated with oneor more machines. Such components, when executed by one or moremachines, e.g., computer(s), computing device(s), automation device(s),virtual machine(s), etc., can cause the machine(s) to perform theoperations described.

The modeler component 600 can comprise a communication component 602that can be used to communicate (e.g., transmit, receive) informationbetween the modeler component 600 and other components (e.g.,communication devices, network-related devices, industrial devices,other types of industrial assets that have communication functionality,other devices with communication functionality that are associated withindustrial enterprises, cloud gateways, etc.). The information caninclude, for example, data relating to industrial automation systems,data relating to specifications, properties, or characteristics ofindustrial devices or other industrial assets, customer-related data,work-order-related data relating to work orders that will or may behandled by an industrial automation system, etc.

The modeler component 600 can comprise an aggregator component 604 thatcan aggregate data received (e.g., obtained, collected, detected, etc.)from various entities (e.g., communication devices, industrial devices,industrial assets, network-related devices, cloud gateway components,virtualization component, other devices with communication functionalitythat are associated with industrial enterprises, processor component(s),user interface(s), data store(s), etc.). The aggregator component 604can correlate respective items of data based at least in part on type ofdata, source of the data, time or date the data was generated orreceived, type of device or asset associated with the data, identifierassociated with a device or asset, customer associated with the data,user (e.g., operator, supervisor or manager, engineer, technician, etc.)associated with the data, industrial automation system associated withthe data, industrial enterprise associated with the system, etc., tofacilitate processing of the data (e.g., analyzing of the data,generating models, etc.).

The modeler component 600 also can include a monitor component 606 thatcan monitor device data, process data, asset data, system data, customerdata, and/or other data in connection with the industrial automationsystems. For instance, the monitor component 606 can monitor information(e.g., signals, device or process statuses, network communication ofinformation, process flows, updates, modifications, etc.) associatedwith industrial automation systems, virtualized industrial automationsystems, industrial enterprises, and/or systems or devices of customersassociated with the industrial enterprises to facilitate detectinginformation associated with industrial automation systems that canfacilitate generating and updating models of industrial automationsystems, generating and updating virtualized industrial automationsystems, remotely tracking operation of or controlling operation of anindustrial automation system via an associated model or associatedvirtualized industrial automation system, remotely tracking respectiveuse of respective industrial assets (e.g., maintenance, wear and tear,repair, etc., of respective industrial assets) to facilitate determiningwhen the respective industrial assets are to be replaced or repurchasedin connection with an industrial automation system at an industrialfacility, customizing a view of and/or a data overlay associated with amodel or a virtualized industrial automation system for a user, sharinga view (e.g., a customized view) of and/or a data overlay (e.g., acustomized data overlay) associated with a model or a virtualizedindustrial automation system with a communication device of anotheruser, generating virtual notes in connection with a virtualizedindustrial automation system, controlling and/or enforcing theviewability scope associated with a virtual note, and/or performingother model-related or virtualization-related services. The monitorcomponent 606 can be associated with sensors, meters, HMIs,communication monitoring components, or other components associated withindustrial automation systems, industrial enterprises, and/or systems ordevices of the customers to facilitate the monitoring of the industrialautomation systems, industrial enterprises, and/or systems or devices ofthe customers.

The modeler component 600 can comprise a detector component 608 that candetect desired information associated with industrial automation systemsthat can facilitate performing model-related services andvirtualization-related services in connection with an industrialautomation system (e.g., generating or updating a model, generating orupdating a virtualized industrial automation system, remotelyinteracting with (e.g., monitoring, tracking, and/or controlling, etc.,operation of) an industrial automation system via interacting with amodel or a virtualized industrial automation system, etc.), inaccordance with the defined modeling criteria, the definedvirtualization criteria, or other operation criteria. For instance, thedetector component 608 can detect desired device data, process data,asset data, system data, and/or customer data in connection with theindustrial automation systems that can facilitate generating a model ora virtualized industrial automation system that can accurately representand/or interface with an industrial automation system, remotelyinteracting with and/or controlling an industrial automation system viaan associated model or virtualized industrial automation system, and/orperforming other model-related or virtualization-related services orfunctions. In some implementations, the detector component 608 can be orcan comprise the discovery component (e.g., as described herein withregard to the system 300 of FIG. 3 ).

As another example, the detector component 608 can track and detectoperation of the industrial automation system, including tracking use ofindustrial assets (e.g., maintenance, wear and tear, repair, etc., ofrespective industrial assets) of the industrial automation system. Thiscan facilitate determining when the respective industrial assets are tobe replaced or repurchased in connection with an industrial automationsystem at an industrial facility. When the detected informationindicates that an industrial asset should be replaced, the modelercomponent 600 (via, e.g., the model management component 618) cangenerate a notification or recommendation that can indicate theindustrial asset should be replaced, and can communicate thenotification or recommendation to a user, for example, via acommunication device associated with the user, for further action by theuser (e.g., user can take action to replace the industrial asset), orcan facilitate procuring or purchasing (e.g., automatically procuring orpurchasing) another industrial asset to replace the industrial asset.

The modeler component 600 also can include a collection component 610that can receive, collect, or obtain data (e.g., desired device data,process data, asset data, system data, and/or customer data) fromindustrial automation systems, communication devices, models,virtualized industrial automation systems, extrinsic sources, etc., tofacilitate performing model-related and virtualization-related services,as more fully disclosed herein. The data collected by the collectioncomponent 610 can be stored in the data store 636, and/or can be madeavailable to other components (e.g., analyzer component 616, modelmanagement component 618, etc.) to facilitate generating and updatingmodels of industrial automation systems, generating and updatingvirtualized industrial automation systems, remotely interacting with(e.g., monitoring, tracking, and/or controlling, etc.) an industrialautomation system via an associated model or virtualized industrialautomation system, and/or performing other model-related orvirtualization-related services or functions.

The modeler component 600 can comprise an interface component 612 thatcan be employed to facilitate interfacing the modeler component 600 (orinterfacing an associated virtualization component), including model ofan industrial automation system generated by the modeler component 600(or an associated virtualized industrial automation system generated bythe virtualization component), with industrial automation systems andtheir constituent components (e.g., industrial devices or assets,network-related devices or assets, etc.) or processes, systems ordevices associated with customers, systems or devices associated withdevice manufacturers, etc. For instance, the interface component 612 canbe configured to receive industrial data (e.g., device data, processdata, asset data, system data, configuration data, status data, processvariable data, etc.) sent by one or more cloud-capable industrialdevices, cloud gateway components, communication devices, or othersources of industrial data. The interface component 612 also can beconfigured to receive network-related data (e.g., data relating tocommunication conditions, network-status data, data identifyingnetwork-related devices, etc.) communicated by one or morenetwork-related devices of the network component of an industrialautomation system. The interface component 612 also can be configured tointerface a model (or an virtualized industrial automation system) witha corresponding industrial automation system to facilitate remotelyinteracting with (e.g., monitoring, tracking, and/or controlling, etc.,operation of) the industrial automation system via interactions (e.g.,user interactions) with the model (or the virtualized industrialautomation system (e.g., via virtualized control of the virtualizedoperation of the virtualized industrial automation system)). Theinterface component 612 further can be configured to exchange data withone or more client or customer devices via an Internet connection. Forexample, the interface component 612 can receive customer profile data,requests for firmware upgrades, customer service selections, informationrelating to work orders for products, customer preferences orrequirements with regard to a work order, or other such information froma client device (e.g., an Internet-capable client device, such as aphone, a computer, an electronic tablet or pad, or other suitableInternet-capable device). The interface component 612 also can deliverupgrade notifications, firmware upgrades, reports or notificationsregarding the evaluation of and determinations regarding proposedmodifications to an industrial automation system, notifications ofimpending device failures, identification of asset or systeminefficiencies, configuration recommendations, or other such data to theclient device.

The modeler component 600 also can contain a controller component 614that can control operations relating to processing data, generate orupdate model of an industrial automation system, facilitate generatingor updating a virtualized industrial automation system that canrepresent an industrial automation system, remotely control anindustrial automation system (e.g., using an associated model orvirtualized industrial automation system), facilitate customizing a viewof a virtualized industrial automation system for a user, performsimulation operations using a model (e.g., simulation model) inconnection with an industrial automation system, and/or perform otheroperations in connection with the industrial automation system. Thecontroller component 614 can facilitate controlling operations beingperformed by various components of the modeler component 600,controlling data flow between various components of the modelercomponent 600, controlling data flow between the modeler component 600and other components or systems associated with the modeler component600, etc.

The analyzer component 616 can analyze data (e.g., device data, processdata, asset data, system data, customer data, user-generated oruser-provided data, and/or other data) to facilitate generating orupdating a model of an industrial automation system, generating orupdating a virtualized industrial automation system of an industrialautomation system, customizing a view of and/or a data overlayassociated with model or a virtualized industrial automation system,sharing a customized view of and/or a customized data overlay associatedwith a virtualized industrial automation system, performing simulationof operation of an industrial automation system using a model,processing virtual notes, etc. The analyzer component 616 can parse datato facilitate identifying data that is relevant to performing anoperation (e.g., generating a model, generating a virtualized industrialautomation system, customizing a view of and/or a data overlayassociated with a model or virtualized industrial automation system,etc.) by the modeler component 600. Based at least in part on theanalysis of the data, the analyzer component 616 can generate analysisresults that can be provided to another component (e.g., modelmanagement component 618, processor component 634, etc.) to facilitatethe performance of various operations by the modeler component 600.

The modeler component 600 also can comprise a model management component618 that can generate and/or update a model that can represent anindustrial automation system, facilitate remotely interacting withand/or controlling an industrial automation system using an associatedmodel or virtualized industrial automation system, customize a view ofand/or a data overlay associated with a model or virtualized industrialautomation system for a user, share a customized view of and/or acustomized data overlay associated with a model or virtualizedindustrial automation system, process virtual notes, perform simulationoperations using a model of an industrial automation system, and/orperforming other operations. For instance, the model managementcomponent 618 can include a model generator component 620 that cangenerate and/or update a model that can represent an industrialautomation system, including generating and/or updating modeled versionsor instances of the constituent components (e.g., industrial devices,industrial processes, industrial assets, network-related devices orassets, etc.) of the industrial control system, the interrelationshipsbetween respective constituent components, configurations of respectiveconstituent components, etc., in accordance with the set of definedmodeling criteria, as more fully disclosed herein.

The model management component 618 can comprise an interactioncontroller component 622 that can facilitate remotely interacting and/orcontrolling an industrial automation system, by a user, using anassociated model or virtualized industrial automation system. Forinstance, the interaction controller component 622 can receiveinformation relating to user interactions with the model or virtualizedindustrial automation system from a communication device of the user,and can facilitate remotely interacting with and/or controlling theindustrial automation system in response to the information relating tothe user interactions with the model or virtualized industrialautomation system, as more fully disclosed herein.

The model management component 618 can include a customizer component624 that can customize a view of, and/or a data overlay associated with,a model or virtualized industrial automation system that can correspondto and be interfaced with an industrial automation system, for example,based at least in part on one or more customization factors (e.g.,associated with a user). The model management component 618 canfacilitate providing (e.g., communicating, presenting, etc.) datarelating to the customized view of, and/or a customized data overlayassociated with, the model or virtualized industrial automation systemto a communication device of a user to facilitate displaying thecustomized view of and/or a customized data overlay associated with, themodel or virtualized industrial automation system to the user via thecommunication device.

The model management component 618 also can comprise a data overlaycomponent 626 that can facilitate overlaying a set of data on or inconnection with a model, and/or on a virtualized industrial automationsystem, wherein the set of data can relate to operation of theindustrial automation system associated with the model or virtualizedindustrial automation system. The data overlay component 626 canfacilitate overlaying a summary or synthesis of data associated with theindustrial automation system, or a portion thereof, on or in connectionwith the model or on the virtualized industrial automation system, or aportion thereof. The data overlay component 626 can facilitateoverlaying respective subsets of data on or in proximity to respectivemodeled or virtualized objects (e.g., modeled or virtualized industrialdevice(s), modeled or virtualized industrial process(es), modeled orvirtualized industrial asset(s), modeled or virtualized network-relateddevice(s), etc.) presented in the model or the virtualized industrialautomation system, wherein the respective modeled or virtualized objects(e.g., modeled or industrial device(s), modeled or industrialprocess(es), modeled or industrial asset(s), modeled or network-relateddevice(s), etc.) can correspond to respective objects of the industrialautomation system. In some implementations, the data overlay component626 can facilitate overlaying a customized set of data on or inconnection with a model or on a virtualized industrial automationsystem, or customized subsets of data on or in proximity to respectivemodeled or virtualized objects presented in the model or the virtualizedindustrial automation system, based at least in part on the role of auser, location of the user in relation to the industrial automationsystem, preferences of the user, and/or other factors, in accordancewith the modeling criteria or virtualization criteria.

The model management component 618 also can include a filter component628 that can facilitate filtering data overlaid on the model or thevirtualization industrial automation system, wherein the data can relateto the operation of the industrial automation system and/or a userassociated therewith. The filter component 628 can facilitate providingone or more filters to a communication device of a user to enable theuser to filter the data, or the view of the data, overlaid on the modelor the virtualized industrial automation system (e.g., the user’scustomized view of the model or virtualized industrial automationsystem). The user, via the communication device, can manipulate orselect a filter control and/or input filter-related information tofacilitate setting or selecting a desired filter(s) that can be used tofilter the data associated with the industrial automation system. Themodel management component 618 can receive the information relating tosetting or selection of the filter(s) and/or other filter-relatedinformation from the communication device for processing. The filtercomponent 628 can facilitate setting or implementing the filter(s) basedat least in part on the information relating to setting or selection ofthe filter(s) and/or other filter-related information. The filtercomponent 628 (and/or the analyzer component 616) can analyze datarelating to the industrial automation system, and can filter such datato generate a set of filtered data relating to the industrial automationsystem. The data overlay component 626 can facilitate overlaying the setof filtered data on the model or the virtualized industrial automationsystem, or a portion thereof (e.g., facilitate overlaying the set offiltered data on or in proximity to a modeled or virtualized object(s)of the model or virtualized industrial automation system).

For instance, the filter component 628 can facilitate enabling a user,via the user’s communication device, to select and apply a desiredfilter(s) to filter data associated with the user’s view (e.g.,customized view) of the model or virtualized industrial automationsystem, for example, to present (on the model or virtualized industrialautomation system) a subset of the data that is relevant to a work taskthat the user is performing at the time, present (on the model orvirtualized industrial automation system) more detailed data and/or adrilled-down view regarding a certain portion of the model orvirtualized industrial automation system and associated industrialautomation system, as desired by the user. The filter component 628 canfacilitate providing a number of different types of filters to thecommunication devices of users to enable the users to customize,augment, and/or filter data overlays for a user’s personalized view ofthe model or virtualized industrial automation system, as more fullydisclosed herein.

The model management component 618 also can contain a security component630 that can facilitate securing a model, an associated virtualizedindustrial automation system, and associated industrial automationsystem. The security component 630 can facilitate controlling access toa model (or a particular (e.g., customized) view of a model), avirtualized industrial automation system (or a particular (e.g.,customized) view of a virtualized industrial automation system), and/oran associated industrial automation system (e.g., via the model orvirtualized industrial automation system), based at least in part onrespective authentication credentials of user, respective access rightsof users, respective locations of users, etc., as more fully disclosedherein.

The model management component 618 also can comprise a simulationcomponent 632 that can generate or augment a model of the industrialautomation system for use as a simulation model of the industrialautomation system based at least in part on the simulation or emulationof the industrial control system, in accordance with the set of definedmodeling criteria. The simulation component 632 can integrate therespective simulations or emulations of the constituent components ofthe industrial automation system, the interrelationships betweenrespective constituent components, configurations of respectiveconstituent components, etc., to facilitate generating the simulationmodel that can simulate or emulate the industrial automation system. Thesimulation component 632 also can use the simulation model to facilitatesimulating operation of the industrial automation system under (e.g., inresponse to) a given set of conditions (e.g., under a set of conditionsassociated with a modification (e.g., adjustment to a modeled control,adjustment to a modeled switch, addition of a modeled industrial device,replacement of a modeled industrial device with a new modeled industrialdevice, change of a parameter on a modeled industrial device, etc.) tothe model (or associated virtualized industrial control system) that isunder consideration). The model management component 618 or a user cananalyze the results of the simulated operation of the industrialautomation system, and can determine whether the modification to themodel (or associated virtualized industrial control system) that isunder consideration is to be performed, and determine whether thecorresponding modification to the industrial automation system is to beperformed, based at least in part on the analysis results.

The modeler component 600 also can comprise a processor component 634that can operate in conjunction with the other components (e.g.,communication component 602, aggregator component 604, monitor component606, etc.) to facilitate performing the various functions and operationsof the modeler component 600. The processor component 634 can employ oneor more processors (e.g., CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, etc.), microprocessors, orcontrollers that can process data, such as industrial data (e.g., devicedata, process data, asset data, system data, etc.) associated withindustrial control systems, customer or client related data, datarelating to parameters associated with the modeler component 600 andassociated components, etc., to facilitate generating or updating amodel or a virtualized industrial automation system that can representan industrial automation system, remotely interacting with and/orcontrolling an industrial automation system using an associated model orvirtualized industrial automation system, customizing a view of and/or adata overly associated with a model or virtualized industrial automationsystem for a user, filter data relating to the industrial automationsystem in connection with a data overlay, share a customized view and/ora customized data overlay associated with a user with a communicationdevice of another user, generate or post a virtual note, generating asimulation model of an industrial automation system, performingsimulation operations using simulation models to facilitate determiningwhether to perform a particular action in connection with a model, avirtualized industrial automation system, or associated industrialautomation system, performing other model-related orvirtualization-related operations, etc.; and can control data flowbetween the modeler component 600 and other components associated withthe modeler component 600.

In yet another aspect, the modeler component 600 can contain a datastore 636 that can store data structures (e.g., user data, metadata);code structure(s) (e.g., modules, objects, classes, procedures),commands, or instructions; industrial data or other data associated withindustrial automation systems or industrial enterprises; customer orclient related information; data relating to model-related orvirtualization-related services in connection with industrial automationsystems; parameter data; algorithms (e.g., algorithm(s) relating togenerating or updating model or a virtualized industrial automationsystem that can represent an industrial automation system, including itsindustrial devices, industrial processes, industrial assets,network-related devices, interrelationships between such devices,processes, or assets, etc.); algorithm(s) relating to remotelyinteracting with (e.g., monitoring, tracking, controlling, etc.) anindustrial automation system using an associated model or virtualizedindustrial automation system, algorithm(s) relating to customizing aview of and/or a data overlay associated with a model or a virtualizedindustrial automation system, filtering data, sharing a customized viewof and/or a customized data overlay associated with a model or avirtualized industrial automation system, generating or posting avirtual note, etc.); a set of defined modeling criteria; a set ofvirtualization criteria; other criteria; and so on. In an aspect, theprocessor component 634 can be functionally coupled (e.g., through amemory bus) to the data store 636 in order to store and retrieve datadesired to operate and/or confer functionality, at least in part, to thecommunication component 602, aggregator component 604, monitor component606, etc., of the modeler component 600 and/or substantially any otheroperational aspects of the modeler component 600. It is to beappreciated and understood that the various components of the modelercomponent 600 can communicate data, instructions, or signals betweeneach other and/or between other components associated with the modelercomponent 600 as desired to carry out operations of the modelercomponent 600. It is to be further appreciated and understood thatrespective components (e.g., communication component 602, aggregatorcomponent 604, monitor component 606, etc.) of the modeler component 600each can be a stand-alone unit, can be included within the modelercomponent 600 (as depicted), can be incorporated within anothercomponent of the modeler component 600 (e.g., within the modelmanagement component 618) or a component separate from the modelercomponent 600, and/or virtually any suitable combination thereof, asdesired. It also is to be appreciated and understood that respectivecomponents (e.g., communication component 602, aggregator component 604,monitor component 606, ... processor component 634, data store 636) ofthe modeler component 600 can be shared with and used by anothercomponent(s) (e.g., virtualization component) or system(s) (e.g.,virtualization system) or such other component(s) or system(s) cancomprise components that can be the same as or similar to that of themodeler component 600.

In accordance with various embodiments, one or more of the variouscomponents of the modeler component 600 (e.g., communication component602, aggregator component 604, monitor component 606, etc.) can beelectrically and/or communicatively coupled to one another to performone or more of the functions of the modeler component 600. In someimplementations, one or more components of the modeler component 600(e.g., communication component 602, aggregator component 604, monitorcomponent 606, ..., model management component 618) can comprisesoftware instructions that can be stored in the data store 636 andexecuted by the processor component 634. The modeler component 600 alsocan interact with other hardware and/or software components not depictedin FIG. 6 . For example, the processor component 634 can interact withone or more external user interface devices, such as a keyboard, amouse, a display monitor, a touchscreen, or other such interfacedevices.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram of an example system 700 that canfacilitate generation of a model of an industrial automation system or avirtualized industrial automation system that can be representative ofthe industrial automation system, and the performance of othermodel-related or virtualization-related services based at least in partcollection of customer-specific industrial data by a cloud-based modelsystem or virtualization system, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter. The system 700 can includea modeler system 702 and a virtualization system 704 that respectivelycan execute as cloud-based services on a cloud platform (e.g., cloudplatform 502 of FIG. 5 ), and can collect data from multiple industrialautomation systems, such as industrial automation system₁ 706 ₁,industrial automation system₂ 706 ₂, and/or (up through) industrialautomation system_(N) 706 _(N). The industrial automation systems (e.g.,706 ₁, 706 ₂, 706 _(N)) can comprise different industrial automationsystems within a given facility and/or different industrial facilitiesat diverse geographical locations. Industrial automation systems (e.g.,706 ₁, 706 ₂, 706 _(N)) also can correspond to different businessentities (e.g., different industrial enterprises or customers), whereinthe modeler system 702 or virtualization system 704 can collect andmaintain a distinct customer data store 708 for each customer orbusiness entity.

The modeler system 702 or virtualization system 704 can organizemanufacturing data collected from the industrial automation systems(e.g., 706 ₁, 706 ₂, 706 _(N)) according to various classes. In theillustrated example, manufacturing data can be classified according todevice data 710, process data 712, asset data 714, and system data 716.

Referring briefly to FIG. 8 , FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram of an examplehierarchical relationship 800 between these example data classes. Agiven plant or supply chain 802 can comprise one or more industrialautomation systems 804. The industrial automation systems 804 canrepresent the production lines or productions areas within a given plantfacility or across multiple facilities of a supply chain. Eachindustrial automation system 804 can comprise a number of assets 806that can represent the machines and equipment that make up theindustrial automation system (e.g., the various stages of a productionline). In general, each asset 806 can comprise one or more industrialdevices 808, which can include, for example, the programmablecontrollers, motor drives, HMIs, sensors, meters, etc. comprising theasset 806. The various data classes depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8 are onlyintended to be exemplary, and it is to be appreciated that anyorganization of industrial data classes maintained by the modeler system702 or virtualization system 704 is within the scope of one or moreembodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

Returning again to FIG. 7 (along with FIG. 8 ), the modeler system 702or virtualization system 704 can collect and maintain data from thevarious devices and assets that make up the industrial automationsystems 804 and can classify the data according to the aforementionedclasses for the purposes of facilitating analysis of the data,generation of models of the industrial automation systems (e.g., 706 ₁,706 ₂, 706 _(N)), and/or performing other operations by the modelersystem 702 or virtualization system 704. Device data 710 can comprisedevice-level information relating to the identity, configuration, andstatus of the respective devices comprising the industrial automationsystems (e.g., 706 ₁, 706 ₂, 706 _(N)), including but not limited todevice identifiers, device statuses, current firmware versions, healthand diagnostic data, device documentation, identification andrelationship of neighboring devices that interact with the device, etc.

The process data 712 can comprise information relating to one or moreprocesses or other automation operations carried out by the devices;e.g., device-level and process-level faults and alarms, process variablevalues (speeds, temperatures, pressures, etc.), and the like.

The asset data 714 can comprise information generated, collected,determined, or inferred based on data that can be aggregated fromvarious (e.g., multiple) industrial devices over time, which can yieldhigher asset-level views of the industrial automation systems (e.g., 706₁, 706 ₂, 706 _(N)). Example asset data 714 can include performanceindicators (KPIs) for the respective assets, asset-level processvariables, faults, alarms, etc. Since the asset data 714 can yield arelatively longer term view of asset characteristics relative to thedevice and process data, the modeler system 702 or virtualization system704 can leverage the asset data 714 to facilitate identifyingoperational patterns and correlations unique to each asset, among othertypes of analysis, and this can facilitate generating respectivemodeling assets or virtualization assets that can correspond to therespective assets, and generating, updating, using, customizing, etc.,of model or a virtualized industrial automation system of the industrialcontrol system based at least in part on the respective models orvirtualizations of the respective assets associated with the industrialcontrol system.

The system data 716 can comprise collected, determined, or inferredinformation that can be generated based on data that can be aggregatedfrom various (e.g., multiple) assets over time. The system data 716 cancharacterize system behavior within a large system of assets, yielding asystem-level view of each of the industrial automation systems (e.g.,706 ₁, 706 ₂, 706 _(N)). The system data 716 also can document theparticular system configurations in use and industrial operationsperformed at each of the industrial automation systems (e.g., 706 ₁, 706₂, 706 _(N)). For example, the system data 716 can document thearrangement of assets, interconnections between devices, the productbeing manufactured at a given facility, an industrial process performedby the assets, a category of industry of each industrial system (e.g.,automotive, oil and gas, food and drug, marine, textiles, etc.), orother relevant information. Among other functions, this data can beaccessed by technical support personnel during a support session so thatparticulars of the customer’s unique system and device configurationscan be obtained without reliance on the customer to possess completeknowledge of their assets.

As an example, a given industrial facility can include a packaging line(e.g., the system), which in turn can comprise a number of individualassets (e.g., a filler, a labeler, a capper, a palletizer, etc.). Eachasset can comprise a number of devices (e.g., controllers, variablefrequency drives, HMIs, etc.). Using an architecture similar to thatdepicted in FIG. 5 , the modeler system 702 or virtualization system 704can collect industrial data from the individual devices during operationand can classify the data in the customer data store 708 according tothe aforementioned classifications. Note that some data may beduplicated across more than one class. For example, a process variableclassified under process data 712 also can be relevant to theasset-level view of the system represented by the asset data 714.Accordingly, such process variables can be classified under bothclasses. Moreover, subsets of data in one classification can be derived,determined, or inferred based on data under another classification. Forexample, subsets of system data 716 that can characterize certain systembehaviors can be derived, determined, or inferred based on a long-termanalysis of data in the lower-level classifications.

In addition to maintaining the data classes (e.g., 710, 712, 714, 716),each customer data store also can maintain a customer model 718 that cancontain data specific to a given industrial entity or customer. Thecustomer model 718 can contain customer-specific information andpreferences, which can be leveraged by (e.g., used by) the modelersystem 702 or virtualization system 704 to facilitate generating orupdating a model of an industrial automation system, generating orupdating a virtualized industrial automation system that can representan industrial automation system, remotely interacting with (e.g.,monitoring, tracking, controlling, etc.) an industrial automation systemusing an associated virtualized industrial automation system,customizing a view of and/or a data overlay associated with avirtualized industrial automation system for a user, sharing acustomized view of and/or a customized data overlay associated with avirtualized industrial automation system for a user, processing virtualnotes, generating a simulation model of an industrial automation system,performing simulation operations using simulation models, and/orperforming other operations in connection with the industrial automationsystem, etc. Example information that can be maintained in the customermodel 718 can include a client identifier, client preferences orrequirements with regard to production or work orders associated with anindustrial automation system, client contact information specifyingwhich plant personnel are to be notified in response to results of aresponse of the industrial automation system to a user interaction withan associated model or virtualized industrial automation system,notification preferences that can specify how plant personnel are to benotified (e.g., email, mobile phone, text message, etc.), servicecontracts that are active between the customer and the technical supportentity, and other such information. The modeler system 702 orvirtualization system 704 can marry (e.g., associate, link, unite, map,etc.) data collected for each customer with the corresponding customermodel 718 for identification and event handling purposes.

As noted above, industrial data can be migrated (e.g., communicated)from industrial devices to the cloud platform (e.g., comprising themodeler system 702 and virtualization system 704) using cloud gatewaycomponents. To this end, some devices can include integrated cloudgateways that can directly interface each device to the cloud platform.Additionally or alternatively, some configurations can utilize a cloudproxy device that can collect industrial data from multiple devicesassociated with the industrial automation systems (e.g., 706 ₁, 706 ₂,706 _(N)) and can send (e.g., transmit) the data to the cloud platform.Such a cloud proxy can comprise a dedicated data collection device, suchas a proxy server that can share a network (e.g., communication network)with the industrial devices. Additionally or alternatively, the cloudproxy can be a peer industrial device that can collect data from otherindustrial devices.

FIGS. 9 and 10 depict block diagrams of example systems 900 and 1000,respectively, illustrating respective techniques that can facilitatemigrating industrial data to the cloud platform via proxy devices forclassification and analysis by a modeler system (e.g., comprising amodeler component) and a virtualization system (e.g., comprising avirtualization component), in accordance with various aspects andimplementations of the disclosed subject matter. FIG. 9 depicts thesystem 900 that can be configured to comprise an industrial device thatcan act or operate as a cloud proxy for other industrial devices of anindustrial automation system. The industrial automation system cancomprise a plurality of industrial devices, including industrial device₁906 ₁, industrial device₂ 906 ₂, industrial device₃ 906 ₃, and/or (upthrough) industrial device_(N) 906 _(N), that collectively can monitorand/or control one or more controlled processes 902. The industrialdevices 906 ₁, 906 ₂, 906 ₃, and/or (up through) 906 _(N) respectivelycan generate and/or collect process data relating to control of thecontrolled process(es) 902. For industrial controllers such as PLCs orother automation controllers, this can include collecting data fromtelemetry devices connected to an industrial controller’s I/O,generating data internally based on measured process values, etc.

In the configuration depicted in FIG. 9 , industrial device₁ 906 ₁ canact, operate, or function as a proxy for industrial devices 906 ₂, 906₃, and/or (up through) 906 _(N), whereby the data 914 from devices 906₂, 906 ₃, and/or (up through) 906 _(N) can be sent (e.g., transmitted)to the cloud via proxy industrial device₁ 906 ₁. Industrial devices 906₂, 906 ₃, and/or (up through) 906 _(N) can deliver their respective data914 to the proxy industrial device₁ 906 ₁ over the plant network orbackplane 912 (e.g., a Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) network or othersuitable network protocol). Using such a configuration, as desired, oneindustrial device can be interfaced to the cloud platform (via cloudgateway component 908). In some embodiments, the cloud gateway component908 can perform preprocessing on the gathered data prior to migratingthe data to the cloud platform (e.g., time stamping, filtering,formatting, normalizing, summarizing, compressing, etc.). The collectedand processed data can be pushed (e.g., transmitted) to the cloudplatform as cloud data 904 via cloud gateway component 908. Oncemigrated to the cloud platform, the cloud-based modeler system orvirtualization system can classify the data according to the exampleclassifications described herein and/or can utilize the data tofacilitate performing various operations relating to generating orupdating models of industrial automation systems, generating or updatingvirtualized industrial automation systems and using virtualizedindustrial automation systems (e.g., to facilitate remotely interactingwith and/or controlling operation of associated industrial automationsystems).

While the proxy device illustrated in FIG. 9 is depicted as anindustrial device that itself can perform monitoring, tracking, and/orcontrolling of a portion of controlled process(es) 902, other types ofdevices also can be configured to serve as cloud proxies for multipleindustrial devices according to one or more implementations of thedisclosed subject matter. For example, FIG. 10 illustrates an examplesystem 1000 that can comprise a firewall box 1012 that can serve as acloud proxy for a set of industrial devices 1006 ₁, 1006 ₂, and/or (upthrough) 1006 _(N). The firewall box 1012 can act as a networkinfrastructure device that can allow the plant network 1016 to access anoutside network such as the Internet, while also providing firewallprotection that can prevent unauthorized access to the plant network1016 from the Internet. In addition to these firewall functions, thefirewall box 1012 can include a cloud gateway component 1008 that caninterface the firewall box 1012 with one or more cloud-based services(e.g., model-related services, virtualization-related services, datacollection services, data storage services, etc.). In a similar mannerto the proxy industrial device 906 ₁ of FIG. 9 , the firewall box 1012of FIG. 10 can collect industrial data 1014 from including industrialdevice₁ 1006 ₁, industrial device₂ 1006 ₂, and/or (up through)industrial device_(N) 1006 _(N), which can monitor and controlrespective portions of controlled process(es) 1002. Firewall box 1012can include a cloud gateway component 1008 that can apply appropriatepre-processing to the gathered industrial data 1014 prior to pushing(e.g., communicating) the data to the cloud-based modeler system orvirtualization system as cloud data 1004. Firewall box 1012 can allowindustrial devices 1006 ₁, 1006 ₂, and/or (up through) 1006 _(N) tointeract with the cloud platform without directly exposing theindustrial devices to the Internet.

In some embodiments, the cloud gateway 908 of FIG. 9 or cloud gateway1008 of FIG. 10 can tag the collected industrial data (e.g., 914 or1014) with contextual metadata prior to pushing the data as cloud data(e.g., 904 or 1004) to the cloud platform. Such contextual metadata caninclude, for example, a time stamp, a location of the device at the timethe data was generated, or other contextual information. In anotherexample, some cloud-aware devices can comprise smart devices capable ofdetermining their own context within the plant or enterpriseenvironment. Such devices can determine their location within ahierarchical plant context or device topology. Data generated by suchdevices can adhere to a hierarchical plant model that can definemultiple hierarchical levels of an industrial enterprise (e.g., aworkcell level, a line level, an area level, a site level, an enterpriselevel, etc.), such that the data can be identified (e.g., by the modelersystem or virtualization system) in terms of these hierarchical levels.This can allow a common terminology to be used across an entireindustrial enterprise to identify devices and their associated data.Cloud-based applications and services that model an enterprise accordingto such an organizational hierarchy can represent industrialcontrollers, devices, machines, or processes as data structures (e.g.,type instances) within this organizational hierarchy to provide contextfor data generated by respective devices within the enterprise relativeto the enterprise as a whole. Such a convention can replace the flatname structure that is employed by some industrial applications.

In some embodiments, the cloud gateway 908 of FIG. 9 or cloud gatewaycomponent 1008 of FIG. 10 can comprise uni-directional “data only”gateways that can be configured only to move data from the premises(e.g., industrial facility) to the cloud platform. Alternatively, thecloud gateway components 908 and 1008 can comprise bi-directional “dataand configuration” gateways that additionally can be configured toreceive configuration or instruction data from services running on thecloud platform. Some cloud gateways can utilize store-and-forwardtechnology that can allow the gathered industrial data (e.g., 914 or1014) to be temporarily stored locally on storage associated with thecloud gateway component (e.g., 908 or 1008) in the event thatcommunication between a gateway and the cloud platform is disrupted. Insuch events, the cloud gateway component (e.g., 908 or 1008) can forward(e.g., communicate) the stored data to the cloud platform when thecommunication link is re-established.

To ensure a rich and descriptive set of data for analysis purposes, thecloud-based modeler system or virtualization system can collect devicedata in accordance with one or more standardized device models. To thisend, a standardized device model can be developed for each industrialdevice. Device models can profile the device data that is available tobe collected and maintained by the modeler system or virtualizationsystem.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example device model 1100according to various aspects and implementations of the disclosedsubject matter. In the illustrated example model 1100, the device model1106 can be associated with a cloud-aware industrial device 1102 (e.g.,a programmable logic controller, a variable frequency drive, an HMI, avision camera, a barcode marking system, etc.). As a cloud-aware device,the industrial device 1102 can be configured to automatically detect andcommunicate with the cloud platform 1108 upon installation at a plantfacility, simplifying integration with existing cloud-based datastorage, analysis, and applications (e.g., as performed by thevirtualization system described herein). When added to an existingindustrial automation system, the industrial device 1102 can communicatewith the cloud platform and can send identification and configurationinformation in the form of the device model 1106 to the cloud platform1108. The device model 1106 can be received by the modeler system 1110(or virtualization system (not shown in FIG. 11 )), which can update thecustomer’s device data 1114 based on the device model 1106. In this way,the modeler system 1110 (or virtualization system) can leverage thedevice model 1106 to facilitate integrating the new industrial device1102 into the greater system as a whole. This integration can includethe modeler system 1110 (or virtualization system) updating cloud-basedapplications or services to recognize the new industrial device 1102,adding the new industrial device 1102 to a dynamically updated datamodel of the customer’s industrial enterprise or plant, modifying amodel to integrate, incorporate, or include a model of the newindustrial device 1102 based at least in part on the identification andconfiguration information (or other data), or modifying a virtualizationindustrial automation system associated with the industrial automationsystem to integrate, incorporate, or include a virtualized version ofthe new industrial device 1102 based at least in part on theidentification and configuration information (or other data),determining or predicting a response of the modified industrialautomation system based at least in part on a modified model or modifiedsimulation model that integrates the new industrial device 1102, makingother devices on the plant floor aware of the new industrial device1102, or other desired integration functions. Once deployed, some dataitems comprising the device model 1106 can be collected and monitored bythe modeler system 1110 (or virtualization system) on a real-time ornear real-time basis.

The device model 1106 can comprise such information as a deviceidentifier (e.g., model and serial number) associated with theindustrial device 1102, status information for the industrial device1102, a currently installed firmware version associated with theindustrial device 1102, device setup data associated with the industrialdevice 1102, warranty specifications associated with the industrialdevice 1102, calculated and/or anticipated KPIs associated with theindustrial device 1102 (e.g., mean time between failures), health anddiagnostic information associated with the industrial device 1102,device documentation, or other such parameters.

In addition to maintaining individual customer-specific data stores foreach industrial enterprise, the virtualization system (e.g., cloud-basedvirtualization system) also can feed (e.g., transmit) sets of customerdata to a global data storage (referred to herein as cloud-based datastore or Big Data for Manufacturing (BDFM) data store) for collectivebig data analysis in the cloud platform (e.g., by the virtualizationsystem). FIG. 12 presents a block diagram of an example system 1200 thatcan facilitate collection of data from devices and assets associatedwith respective industrial automation systems for storage in cloud-baseddata storage, in accordance with various aspects and implementations ofthe disclosed subject matter. As illustrated in FIG. 12 , the collectioncomponent 610 of the modeler system (e.g., as facilitated by theinterface component 612) can collect data from devices and assetscomprising respective different industrial automation systems, such asindustrial automation system₁ 1206 ₁, industrial automation system₂ 1206₂, and/or (up through) industrial automation system_(N) 1206 _(N), forstorage in a cloud-based BDFM data store 1202. In some embodiments, datamaintained in the BDFM data store 1202 can be collected anonymously withthe consent of the respective customers. For example, customers canenter into a service agreement with a technical support entity wherebythe customer can agree to have their device and asset data collected bythe virtualization system in exchange for virtualization-relatedservices or a credit towards virtualization-related services. The datamaintained in the BDFM data store 1202 can include all or portions ofthe classified customer-specific data described in connection with FIG.7 , as well as additional data (e.g., derived, determined, or inferreddata). The modeler component 600 (e.g., aggregator component 604, modelmanagement component 618, etc.) or another component of the modelersystem can organize the collected data stored in the BDFM data store1202 according to device type, system type, application type, applicableindustry, or other relevant categories. The model management component618 can analyze data stored in the resulting multi-industry,multi-customer data store (e.g., BDFM data store 1202) to facilitatelearning, determining, or identifying industry-specific,device-specific, and/or application-specific trends, patterns,thresholds (e.g., device-related thresholds, network-related thresholds,etc.), industrial-automation-system interrelationships between devicesor assets, etc., associated with the industrial automation systemsassociated with the cloud platform. In general, the model managementcomponent 618 can perform a data analysis (e.g., big data analysis) ondata (e.g., the multi-industrial enterprise data) maintained (e.g.,stored in) the BDFM data store 1202 to facilitate learning, determining,identifying, characterizing, virtualizing, simulating, and/or emulatingoperational industrial-automation-system interrelationships, thresholds,trends, or patterns associated with industrial automation systems as afunction of industry type, application type, equipment in use, assetconfigurations, device configuration settings, or other types ofvariables.

For example, it can be known that a given industrial asset (e.g., adevice, a configuration of device, a machine, etc.) can be used acrossdifferent industries for different types of industrial applications.Accordingly, the model management component 618 can identify a subset ofthe global data stored in BDFM data store 1202 relating to the asset orasset type, and perform analysis on this subset of data to determine howthe asset or asset type performs over time and under various types ofoperating conditions for each of multiple different industries or typesof industrial applications. The model management component 618 also candetermine the operational behavior of the asset or asset type over timeand under various types of operating conditions for each of differentsets of operating constraints or parameters (e.g. different ranges ofoperating temperatures or pressures, different recipe ingredients oringredient types, etc.). The model management component 618 can leverage(e.g., use) a large amount of historical data relating to the asset orasset type that has been gathered (e.g., collected and/or aggregated)from many different industrial automation systems to facilitate learningor determining common operating characteristics of many diverseconfigurations of industrial assets or asset types at a relatively highdegree of granularity and under many different operating contexts. Themodel management component 618 can use the learned or determinedoperating characteristics relating to the industrial assets or assettypes to facilitate generating, updating, and/or using modeled versionsor virtualized versions of the industrial assets or asset types whenemployed in an industrial automation system to facilitate generating,updating, and/or using a model of an industrial automation component ora virtualized industrial automation system that can be based at least inpart on the modeled or virtualized versions of the industrial assets orasset types.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a cloud-based system 1300 thatcan employ a modeler system and virtualization system to facilitateperforming or providing model-related services andvirtualization-related services associated with industrial automationsystems, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter. As disclosed herein, the modeler system 1302and virtualization system 1304 can collect, maintain, and monitorcustomer-specific data (e.g. device data 710, process data 712, assetdata 714, and system data 716) relating to one or more industrial assets1306 of an industrial enterprise. In addition, the modeler system 1302and virtualization system 1304 can collect and organize industrial dataanonymously (with customer consent) from multiple industrialenterprises, and can store such industrial data in a BDFM data store1308 for collective analysis by the modeler system 1302 and/orvirtualization system 1304, for example, as described herein.

The modeler system 1302 and virtualization system 1304 also can collectproduct resource information and maintain (e.g., store) the productresource information in the cloud-based product resource data store1310. In general, the product resource data store 1310 can maintainup-to-date information relating to specific industrial devices or othervendor products in connection with industrial automation systems.Product data stored in the product resource data store 1310 can beadministered by the modeler system 1302 and/or virtualization system1304 and/or one or more product vendors or OEMs. Exemplarydevice-specific data maintained by the product resource data store 1310can include product serial numbers, most recent firmware revisions,preferred device configuration settings and/or software for a given typeof industrial application, or other such vendor-provided information.

The system depicted in FIG. 13 can provide model-related services andvirtualization-related services to subscribing customers (e.g., ownersof industrial assets 1306). For example, customers can enter anagreement with a product vendor or technical support entity to allowtheir system data to be gathered anonymously and fed into (e.g.,communicated to and stored in) the BDFM data store 1308, and thisthereby can expand the store of global data available for collectiveanalysis by the modeler system 1302 and/or the virtualization system1304. In exchange, the vendor or technical support entity can agree toprovide model-related services and/or virtualization-related services(e.g., customized virtualization-related services) to the customer(e.g., real-time or near real-time system monitoring; real-time or nearreal-time generation, updating, and/or use of a model or a virtualizedindustrial automation system associated with an industrial automationsystem, etc.). Alternatively, the customer can subscribe to one or moreavailable model-related services or virtualization-related services thatcan be provided by the modeler system 1302 or virtualization system1304, and optionally can allow their system data to be maintained in theBDFM data store 1308. In some embodiments, a customer can be given anoption to subscribe to model-related services or virtualization-relatedservices without permitting their data to be stored in the BDFM datastore 1308 for collective analysis with data from other systems (e.g.,industrial automation systems). In such cases, the customer’s data willonly be maintained as customer data (e.g., in customer data store 708)for the purposes of real-time or near real-time generation, updating,and/or use of a model or a virtualized industrial automation systemassociated with an industrial automation system relating to thatparticular customer, and the collected customer data will be analyzed inconnection with data stored in the BDFM data store 1308 and the productresource data store 1310 without that customer data being migrated forstorage in the BDFM data store 1308 for long-term storage and analysis.In another exemplary agreement, customers can be offered a discount onmodel-related services or virtualization-related services in exchangefor allowing their system data to be anonymously migrated to the BDFMdata store 1308 for collective analysis by the modeler system 1302 orvirtualization system 1304.

In accordance with various aspects, the customer-specific data caninclude device and/or asset level faults and alarms, process variablevalues (e.g., temperatures, pressures, product counts, cycle times,etc.), calculated or anticipated key performance indicators for thecustomer’s various assets, indicators of system behavior over time, andother such information. The customer-specific data also can includedocumentation of firmware versions, configuration settings, and softwarein use on respective devices of the customer’s industrial assets.Moreover, the modeler system 1302 or virtualization system 1304 can takeinto consideration customer information encoded in customer model 718,which can have a bearing on inferences made by the modeler system 1302or virtualization system 1304 based at least in part on the analysis(e.g., big data analysis) stored in the BDFM data store 1308. Forexample, customer model 718 may indicate a type of industry that is thefocus of the customer’s business (e.g., automotive, food and drug, oiland gas, fibers and textiles, power generation, marine, etc.). Knowledgeof the customer’s industry can facilitate enabling the modeler system1302 or virtualization system 1304 to correlate the customer-specificdata with data relating to similar systems and applications in the sameindustry, as documented by the data stored in the BDFM data store 1308.

Taken together, customer-specific data and a customer model (e.g., 718)can facilitate accurately modeling the customer’s industrial enterpriseat a highly granular level, from high-level system behavior over timedown to the device and software level. The analyzing (e.g., by themodeler system 1302 or virtualization system 1304) of thiscustomer-specific data in view of global industry-specific andapplication-specific trends learned via analysis of data stored in theBDFM data store 1308, as well as vendor-provided device informationmaintained in the product resource data store 1310, can facilitatereal-time or near real-time generation, updating, and/or use of a modelor a virtualized industrial automation system associated with anindustrial automation system to facilitate real-time or near real-timeremote interaction with (e.g., monitoring, tracking, controlling, etc.,of) the industrial automation system using the model or the virtualizedindustrial automation system (e.g., based at least in part on userinteractions with the virtualized industrial automation system by a uservia a communication device).

In some implementations, the system 1300 (e.g., via the collectioncomponent, modeler system 1302, or virtualization system 1304) also canreceive, collect, or capture extrinsic data 1312 from one or moresources (e.g., external data sources). The modeler system 1302 orvirtualization system 1304 can use or leverage the extrinsic data 1312received, collected, or captured from sources external to a customer’sindustrial enterprise, wherein the extrinsic data 1312 can haverelevance to operation of the customer’s industrial automationsystem(s). Example extrinsic data 1312 can include, for example, energycost data, material cost and availability data, transportation scheduleinformation from companies that provide product transportation servicesfor the customer, market indicator data, web site traffic statistics,information relating to known information security breaches or threats,or other information relevant to the operation of the customer’sindustrial automation system(s). The modeler system 1302 orvirtualization system 1304 can retrieve extrinsic data 1312 fromsubstantially any data source, such as, e.g., servers or other datastorage devices linked to the Internet, cloud-based storage thatmaintains extrinsic data of interest, or other sources. The modelersystem 1302 or virtualization system 1304 can analyze the extrinsic data1312 and/or other data (e.g., user-related data associated with users(e.g., operators, managers, technicians, other workers) associated withthe industrial automation system(s), device data 710, process data 712,asset data 714, system data 716, etc.) to facilitate performingvirtualization-related or other services in connection with theindustrial automation system(s).

The aforementioned systems and/or devices have been described withrespect to interaction between several components. It should beappreciated that such systems and components can include thosecomponents or sub-components specified therein, some of the specifiedcomponents or sub-components, and/or additional components.Sub-components could also be implemented as components communicativelycoupled to other components rather than included within parentcomponents. Further yet, one or more components and/or sub-componentsmay be combined into a single component providing aggregatefunctionality. The components may also interact with one or more othercomponents not specifically described herein for the sake of brevity,but known by those of skill in the art.

FIGS. 14-20 illustrate various methods in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the subject application. While, for purposes ofsimplicity of explanation, the one or more methods shown herein areshown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood andappreciated that the disclosed subject matter is not limited by theorder of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in adifferent order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown anddescribed herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understandand appreciate that a method could alternatively be represented as aseries of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram.Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodin accordance with the disclosed subject matter. Furthermore,interaction diagram(s) may represent methods, in accordance with thesubject disclosure when disparate entities enact disparate portions ofthe methods. Further yet, two or more of the disclosed example methodscan be implemented in combination with each other, to accomplish one ormore features or advantages described herein.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 1400 that canfacilitate generating and managing a model that can correspond to anindustrial automation system associated with an industrial enterprisebased at least in part on cloud-based data relating to the industrialenterprise, in accordance with various implementations and embodimentsof the disclosed subject matter. The method 1400 can be implemented by amodeler system that can comprise a modeler component that can comprise acollection component, a data store, and/or a model management component,etc. All or a desired portion of the modeler component can reside in acloud platform.

At 1402, a set of industrial-automation-system-related data associatedwith an industrial automation system can be collected. The collectioncomponent can obtain, collect, or otherwise receiveindustrial-automation-system-related data and can store such data in acloud-based data store. The collection component also can receive otherdata, including other industrial-automation-system-related data fromanother (e.g., a related) industrial automation system or one or moreextrinsic data sources.

The set of industrial-automation-system-related data can comprise, forexample, device-related data (e.g., industrial device-related data,network device-related data), asset-related data, process-related data(e.g., industrial-automation-process-related data), data relating tousers associated with the industrial automation system (e.g., roleinformation, user preferences, etc.), and/or otherindustrial-automation-system-related data associated with an industrialenterprise. The industrial-automation-system-related data can bemigrated (e.g., communicated) to the cloud platform using one or morecloud gateways (e.g., communication gateway components) that can serveas uni-directional or bi-directional communication interfaces betweenindustrial devices or assets of the industrial automation system and thecloud platform. The device-related data, asset-related data,process-related data, and/or other industrial-automation-system-relateddata can be stored in the cloud-based data store in association withidentification information, such as, for example, a customer identifierand other customer-specific information.

At 1404, a model, which can correspond to an industrial automationsystem, can be generated based at least in part on the set ofindustrial-automation-system-related data and/or other data stored in acloud-based data store, wherein all or a portion of the set ofindustrial-automation-system-related data can be received (e.g.,collected, obtained, detected, etc.) from the industrial automationsystem and stored in the cloud-based data store. The model managementcomponent can access the cloud-based data store and can receive (e.g.,collect, obtain, etc.) the set of industrial-automation-system-relateddata from the cloud-based data store. The model management component cananalyze the set of industrial-automation-system-related data to generateanalysis results. The model management component can generate, manage,modify, and/or update the model of the industrial automation systembased at least in part on the results of the analysis of the set ofindustrial-automation-system-related data. For example, using theanalysis results, the model management component can facilitategenerating, managing, modifying, and/or updating the model of theindustrialized automation system, based at least in part on therespective modeling of industrial devices, software and/or firmwareconfigurations (including software or firmware revisions or updates)associated with industrial devices and/or other components of theindustrial automation system, network-related devices (e.g.,communication devices, computers, routers, etc.) associated with theindustrial automation system, functional and communicative relationshipsbetween industrial devices, industrial processes, network-relateddevices, etc. (e.g., communication connections or conditions betweenindustrial devices, types of connections between industrial devices,communication connections between industrial devices and network-relateddevices, etc.), mechanical or process properties or characteristicsassociated with industrial devices (e.g., mechanical latency, processcycle times, operating schedules, etc., associated with industrialdevices), user behavior or interaction in connection with the industrialautomation system (e.g., maintenance schedules, shift-specific oroperator-specific behavior or interaction of operators with theindustrial automation system), user behavior or interaction inconnection with the model or associated virtualized industrialautomation system (e.g., via a communication device of a user),production or process flows of the industrial automation system atparticular times or in connection with particular projects, and/or otheraspects or features of the industrial automation system.

FIG. 15 depicts a flow diagram of another example method 1500 that canfacilitate generating and managing a model that can correspond to anindustrial automation system associated with an industrial enterprisebased at least in part on cloud-based data relating to the industrialenterprise, in accordance with various implementations and embodimentsof the disclosed subject matter. The method 1500 can be implemented by amodeler system that can comprise a modeler component that can comprise acollection component, a data store, and/or a model management component,etc. All or a desired portion of the modeler component can reside in acloud platform.

At 1502, a set of data (e.g., industrial-automation-system-related data)relating to a set of industrial automation systems comprising one ormore industrial automation systems can be collected. The collectioncomponent can collect the set of data relating to the set of industrialautomation systems. The set of data can comprise data relating toindustrial devices, industrial processes, other industrial assets,and/or network-related devices, etc., associated with the one or moreindustrial automation systems of the set of industrial automationsystems. The set of industrial automation systems can be associated withone or more industrial enterprises.

Respective subsets of the data can be obtained from respectiveindustrial devices, industrial processes, other industrial assets,and/or network-related devices via one or more cloud gateway devices(e.g., respective cloud gateways integrated with the respective devices,processes, assets, etc.). For instance, the model management componentcan discover the respective industrial devices, industrial processes,other industrial assets, and/or network-related devices in theindustrial automation system, and the respective industrial devices,industrial processes, other industrial assets, and/or network-relateddevices can provide their respective subsets of data via the one or morecloud gateway devices, in response to being polled (e.g., queried) bythe model management component.

In some implementations, all or part of the modeler system can belocated in a cloud platform. For example, modeler component, thecollection component, the data store (e.g., cloud-based data store), themodel management component, and/or another component(s) of the modelersystem can be located in the cloud platform. In other implementations,certain components (e.g., model management component or collectioncomponent) can be located outside of the cloud platform and can accessthe cloud platform (e.g., the data store in the cloud platform) tofacilitate analyzing the data in the data store to facilitategenerating, managing, and/or updating a model that can correspond to,and interface or interact with, an industrial automation system of theset of industrial automation systems.

At 1504, the set of data can be stored in a data store. The collectioncomponent can facilitate storing the set of data in the data store,wherein the data store can be a cloud-based data store located in thecloud platform.

At 1506, the set of data can be analyzed. The model management componentcan access the cloud-based data store and can retrieve, obtain, read theset of data from the cloud-based data store. The model managementcomponent can analyze the set of data (e.g., perform big data analysison the set of data) to facilitate generating, managing, and/or updatinga model that can correspond to, and interface or interact with, anindustrial automation system. The model management component can analyzethe set of data to facilitate identifying or determining industrialdevices, industrial processes, operating systems, software (e.g.,software type, software version, software functions, softwaremanufacturer, etc.), firmware (e.g., firmware type, firmware version,firmware functions, firmware manufacturer, etc.), network-relateddevices, etc., associated with the industrial automation system;identifying or determining configuration of the industrial devices,industrial processes, operating systems, software, firmware, andnetwork-related devices, including the functional relationships orconnections between respective industrial devices, industrial processes,operating systems, software, firmware, and network-related devices;respective properties or characteristics associated with the respectiveindustrial devices, industrial processes, operating systems, software,firmware, and network-related devices; etc.

At 1508, a model that can correspond to (e.g., be a replication of) theindustrial automation system, comprising the industrial devices,industrial processes, operating systems, software, firmware,network-related devices, etc., can be generated based at least in parton the results of the analysis of the set of data. The model managementcomponent can generate the model associated with the industrialautomation system, including generating respectively modeled industrialdevices, modeled industrial processes, modeled industrial assets,modeled network-related devices (e.g., modeled communication devices,computers, routers, etc.), modeled software and/or firmwareconfigurations associated with the industrial devices and/or othercomponents of the industrial automation system, modeled functional andcommunicative relationships between industrial devices, assets, or othercomponents (e.g., modeled communication connections or conditionsbetween industrial devices, types of connections between industrialdevices, modeled communication connections between industrial devicesand network-related devices, etc.), modeled mechanical or processproperties or characteristics associated with industrial devices (e.g.,modeled mechanical latency, modeled process cycle times, modeledoperating schedules, etc., associated with industrial devices), modeledproperties or characteristics associated with the network-relateddevices (e.g., modeled communication conditions, modeled totalbandwidth, modeled available bandwidth, modeled wireless communications,modeled wireline communications, etc., associated with thenetwork-related devices), and/or other aspects or features of theindustrial automation system.

At 1510, the model of the industrial automation system can be provided(e.g., communicated, presented), for example, to a communication deviceof a user. The modeler component can provide the model of the industrialautomation system, or a virtualized industrial automation system basedon the model, to the communication device of the user via acommunication network (e.g., a communication network comprising anIP-based network (e.g., Internet, intranet), a mobile core network,and/or a local area network (LAN)). The user can use the communicationdevice to access and interact with the model or correspondingvirtualized industrial automation system to facilitate performingvarious desired work tasks (e.g., remote viewing, remote controlling,troubleshooting, providing assistance) in connection with the industrialautomation system, as more fully disclosed herein.

At this point, the method 1500 can proceed to reference point A,wherein, for example, from reference point A, as disclosed with regardto method 1600, a virtualized industrial automation system can begenerated to facilitate performing various work tasks (e.g., remoteviewing, remotely controlling, remotely troubleshooting, remotelyproviding assistance) in connection with the industrial automationsystem.

Information relating to the model of the industrial automation systemcan be stored in the cloud-based data store or another desired datastore, wherein the modeler component or virtualization component canaccess data relating to the model from the cloud-based data store orother data store, and can use the data relating to the model tofacilitate updating the model, generating a virtualized industrialautomation system based on the model, performing work tasks inconnection with the industrial automation system using the model orassociated virtualized industrial automation system, and/or performingother operations in connection with the model, the virtualizedindustrial automation system, or the industrial automation system, asmore fully disclosed herein.

FIG. 16 presents a flow diagram of an example method 1600 that cangenerate and provide a virtualized industrial automation system based ona model of an industrial automation system, in accordance with variousimplementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. Themethod 1600 can be implemented by a modeler system that can comprise amodeler component that can comprise a collection component, a datastore, and/or a model management component, and/or a virtualizationcomponent. All or a desired portion of the modeler system and/or thevirtualization component can reside in a cloud platform. In someimplementations, the method 1600 can proceed from reference point A ofthe method 1500 (or from reference numeral 1404 of the method 1400).

At 1602, a virtualized industrial automation system can be generatedbased at least in part on a model of an industrial automation system.The virtualization component can retrieve information relating to themodel of the industrial automation system from the cloud-based datastore. Based at least in part on the information relating to the modeland/or other data (e.g., other industrial-automation-system-relateddata), the virtualization component can virtualize the industrialautomation system by generating a multi-dimensional (e.g., 2-D or 3-D)virtualized industrial automation system that can correspond, or atleast substantially correspond, to the industrial automation system,wherein respective virtualized industrial assets can be virtuallyrelated to each other in the virtualized industrial system in a mannerthat at least substantially corresponds to the relationships between thecorresponding industrial assets in the industrial automation system.

At 1604, the virtualized industrial automation system can be associatedwith (e.g., connected to, interfaced with) the industrial automationsystem. The virtualization component can facilitate associating thevirtualized industrial automation system to the industrial automationsystem (e.g., to respective industrial assets and network-relateddevices of the industrial automation system).

At 1606, a data overlay (e.g., a customized data overlay) can bepresented on the virtualized industrial automation system. Thevirtualization component can generate a data overlay that can bepresented with the graphical representation of the virtualizedindustrial automation system on an interface (e.g., display screen, suchas a touch-screen display) of a communication device of a user. Thevirtualization component can customize the data overlay and/or the viewof the virtualized industrial automation system based at least in parton information (e.g., identifier, authentication credential) relating tothe user, a role of the user in relation to the industrial automationsystem, a preference(s) of the user or enterprise entity, and/orfactors, as more fully disclosed herein. This customization canfacilitate providing the user with a relevant and useful view of thevirtualized industrial automation system and relevant data (e.g.,operational or status data) relating to the industrial automationsystem.

At 1608, interaction information relating to interaction of the userwith the virtualized industrial automation system can be received orgenerated to facilitate remote interaction with the industrialautomation system by the user. The user can interact (e.g., via one ormore communication device interfaces) with the virtualized industrialautomation system presented on the user’s communication device toperform one or more work tasks in connection with the industrialautomation system. In response to the interaction, the interactioninformation can be generated (e.g., by the virtualization component orcommunication device), wherein the virtualization component can receivethe interaction information.

At 1610, the industrial automation system can be remotely interactedwith (e.g., by the user via the virtualization component) to facilitateperforming one or more tasks in connection with the industrialautomation system, in response to the interaction with the virtualizedindustrial automation system by the user, based at least in part on theinteraction information. The virtualization component can facilitateenabling the user to remotely interact with the industrial automationsystem based at least in part on the user’s interaction with thevirtualized industrial automation system to facilitate enabling the userto perform one or more tasks (e.g., work tasks) in connection with theindustrial automation system. The tasks can comprise, for example,remote viewing of the industrial automation system via the viewing ofthe virtualized industrial automation system by the user, remotelycontrolling (e.g., remotely controlling operation of) the industrialautomation system via the controlling (e.g., controlling operation) ofthe virtualized industrial automation system by the user,troubleshooting a problem with the industrial automation system remotelyvia the interaction with the virtualized industrial automation system bythe user, remotely providing assistance in connection with theindustrial automation system via the interaction with the virtualizedindustrial automation system by the user, and/or remotely performingother work tasks in connection with the industrial automation system viathe interaction with the virtualized industrial automation system by theuser.

FIG. 17 presents a flow diagram of an example method 1700 that canmodify a model of an industrial automation system in response to achange made to the industrial automation system, in accordance withvarious implementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.The method 1700 can be implemented by a modeler system that can comprisea modeler component that can comprise a collection component, a datastore, and/or a model management component. All or a desired portion ofthe modeler component can reside in a cloud platform.

At 1702, a model of an industrial automation system can be generatebased at least in part on a set of data (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related data). The model managementcomponent can generate the model of the industrial automation systembased at least in part on the set of data, as more fully disclosedherein.

At 1704, the industrial automation system can be monitored. The modelmanagement component can monitor the industrial automation system, forexample, to identify or detect any change that has been made to theindustrial automation system.

At 1706, a change to the industrial automation system can be detected(e.g., automatically or dynamically detected). The model managementcomponent can detect one or more changes to an industrial device,industrial process, other industrial asset, or network-related device ofthe industrial automation system. The one or more changes can compriseor related to, for example, a replacement of an industrial device,industrial asset, or network-related device, a modification of aconnection or other relationship (e.g., functional or geographicrelationship) between an industrial asset (e.g., industrial device,industrial process, or other industrial asset) and another component(e.g., another industrial asset, a network-related device), amodification of an industrial process, or a modification of aparameter(s) or configuration of an industrial asset or network-relateddevice. For example, the model management component can detect oridentify that an industrial device of the industrial automation systemhas been replaced with a new industrial device.

At 1708, information relating to the change to the industrial automationsystem can be received (e.g., in the cloud). The collection componentcan receive the information relating to the change to the industrialautomation system. For example, if an industrial device has beenreplaced with a new industrial device, the model management componentcan poll the new industrial device for information relating to the newindustrial device and/or other aspects of the change to the industrialautomation system, and the new industrial device can provide suchinformation to the collection component via a cloud gateway componentassociated with the new industrial device. The information can comprise,for example, a pre-deployed model of the new industrial device,configuration information relating to the new industrial device,parameter information relating to the new industrial device, or arelationship(s) (e.g., a functional or geographic relationship(s))between the new industrial device and another industrial asset(s) ornetwork-related device(s).

At 1710, model information relating to the model can be retrieved fromthe data store (e.g., cloud-based data store). The model managementcomponent can retrieve the model information from the data store.

At 1712, the information relating to the change to the industrialautomation system and the model information can be analyzed. The modelmanagement component can analyze the information relating to the changeto the industrial automation system and the model information tofacilitate modifying or updating the model to reflect the change to theindustrial automation system.

At 1714, the model can be modified to generate a modified model of theindustrial automation system based at least in part on the results ofthe analysis of the information relating to the change to the industrialautomation system and the model information. The model managementcomponent can modify the model to generate the modified model based atleast in part on the analysis results. The modified model canincorporate and model the change to the industrial automation system.For example, if the change information comprises a pre-deployed model ofthe industrial device, the model management component can incorporatethe pre-deployed model of the industrial device and any other associatedchange information in the model to update the model to generate themodified model.

At 1716, the modified model can be stored in the data store. The modelmanagement component can store the modified model in the cloud-baseddata store. The model management component also can provide (e.g.,present, communicate) the modified model or a corresponding virtualizedindustrial automation system to a communication device associated with auser for use by the user in performing work tasks in connection with theindustrial automation system. At this point, the method 1700 can proceedto reference point B, wherein the method 1800 can proceed from referencepoint B, as disclosed herein.

FIG. 18 depicts a flow diagram of an example method 1800 that, inresponse to a change made to an industrial automation system, can use amodel of the industrial automation system to facilitate modification ofanother portion of the industrial automation system, in accordance withvarious implementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.In some implementations, the method 1800 can proceed, for example, fromreference point B of the method 1700. The method 1800 can be implementedby a modeler system that can comprise a modeler component that cancomprise a collection component, a data store, and/or a model managementcomponent, etc. All or a desired portion of the modeler system canreside in a cloud platform.

At 1802, the modified model of the industrial automation system can beanalyzed, wherein the modified model is based on a model of theindustrial automation system that has been modified in response to achange to the industrial automation system. The model managementcomponent can modify the model of the industrial automation system inresponse to, and to reflect (e.g., to account for), the change made tothe industrial automation system. The model management component alsocan analyze the modified model (e.g., analyze modified model informationof the modified model) of the industrial automation system to facilitatedetermining whether it is desirable (e.g., optimal, suitable) to make achange to another portion of the industrial automation system inresponse to the change (e.g., replacement of an industrial device) madeto the industrial automation system.

For example, as part of the analysis, the model management component oranother component (e.g., a simulator component) can use the modifiedmodel to perform a simulation of operation of the industrial automationsystem, as modified by the change made thereto. The model managementcomponent can analyze the results of the simulation of the operation ofthe industrial automation system to facilitate determining whether themodified model is performing as desired (e.g., optimally, suitably), andthus, whether the industrial automation system is performing as desiredin response to the change to the industrial automation system.

At 1804, a determination can be made regarding whether operation of theindustrial automation system is deficient or sub-optimal in response to(e.g., as a result of) the change to the industrial automation system,based at least in part on the results of the analysis of the modifiedmodel. For example, a determination can be made regarding whether thesimulation operation of the industrial automation system using themodified model indicates deficient or sub-optimal operation of theindustrial automation system, for example, in response to the change tothe industrial automation system. Based at least in part on the resultsof the simulation of the industrial automation system, via the modifiedmodel, the model management component can determine whether thesimulated operation of the simulated industrial automation system, basedon the modified model, indicates that the operation of the industrialautomation system is deficient or sub-optimal, and/or can be improved,to facilitate determining whether operation of the industrial automationsystem can be improved.

At 1806, in response to determining that the operation of the industrialautomation system is deficient or sub-optimal in response to the changeto the industrial automation system, a modification to another portionof the industrial automation system can be determined to facilitateimproving operation of the industrial automation system. The modelmanagement component can determine one or more changes that can be madeto another portion of the industrial automation system to facilitateimproving operation of the industrial automation system. For example, inresponse to a change (e.g., replacement of an industrial device) in oneportion of the industrial automation system, the model managementcomponent can determine that operation of the industrial automationsystem is deficient and can be improved, and can determine amodification that can be made to another portion of the industrialautomation system to facilitate improving operation of the industrialautomation system. For example, based at least in part on the analysisresults, the model management component can determine that amodification of the configuration of another industrial device orindustrial process, in response to (e.g., to account for) the change(e.g., replacement of an industrial device) to the industrial automationsystem, can improve operation of the industrial automation system.

At 1808, the modification of the other portion of the industrialautomation system can be facilitated by presenting a recommendation tomodify the other portion of the industrial automation system and/orsending modification or configuration information to the other portionof the industrial automation system. The model management component canfacilitate modification of the other portion of the industrialautomation system to facilitate improving operation of the industrialautomation system, for example, by generating and presenting therecommendation to modify the other portion of the industrial automationsystem and/or by generating and sending modification or configurationinformation to the other portion of the industrial automation system.

At 1810, in response to the other portion of the industrial automationsystem being modified, the current modified model can be updated (e.g.,modified) to incorporate and reflect the modification made to the otherportion of the industrial automation system. In response to the otherportion of the industrial automation system being modified, the modelmanagement component can request, the industrial automation system canprovide (e.g., via one or more cloud gateway devices), and/or thecollection component can receive data (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related data) relating to the operation ofthe industrial automation system, based at least in part on themodification of the other portion of the industrial automation system.The model management component can analyze the received data, and canupdate the current modified model to incorporate and reflect themodification made to the other portion of the industrial automationsystem, thereby creating a new modified model.

It is to be appreciated and understood that the method 1800 canperformed in a different manner or different order to facilitateachieving desirable operation of the industrial automation system. Forexample, when there is time (e.g., in a non-emergency ornon-time-critical situation) to simulate the change to the industrialautomation system to test the results of such a change, prior toactually making the change, the method 1800 can be modified to performthe simulation of the operation of the industrial automation system,using the modified model, analyze the results of the simulation todetermine whether operation of the industrial automation system will bedeficient as a result of the change, determine a modification that canbe made to another portion of the industrial automation system toaccount for the change and improve operation of the industrialautomation system after the change, and facilitate making themodification to the other portion of the industrial automation system(e.g., by sending modification or configuration information to the otherportion of the industrial automation system, and/or by generating arecommendation to modify the other portion of the industrial automationsystem).

FIG. 19 presents a flow diagram of an example method 1900 that canemploy a pre-deployed model associated with an industrial asset tofacilitate generating or updating a model of an industrial automationsystem, in accordance with various implementations and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter. The method 1900 can be implemented by amodeler system that can comprise a modeler component that can comprise acollection component, a data store, and/or a model management component,etc. All or a desired portion of the modeler system can reside in acloud platform.

At 1902, incorporation of an industrial asset into an industrialautomation system can be detected. During the building or modificationof the industrial automation system, the industrial asset can be placedinto service in and made part of an industrial automation system. Themodel management component can detect or discover that the industrialasset (e.g., industrial device, process, or other asset) has beenincorporated into the industrial automation system. For example, theindustrial asset can comprise, be integrated with, or otherwise beassociated with a cloud gateway device that can facilitate communicationof information between the industrial asset and the cloud, wherein themodeler component can reside. The model management component can detectpresence information and/or an asset identifier that can be presented tothe model management component from the industrial asset via the cloudgateway device.

At 1904, a pre-deployed model of the industrial asset can be received(e.g., in the cloud). The model management component can poll (e.g.,query) the industrial asset (e.g., an information provider component ofthe industrial asset) to request information regarding the industrialasset, wherein the information can comprise, for example, a pre-deployedmodel of the industrial asset, identifier information of the industrialasset, specifications of the industrial asset, information indicatingfunctionality or capabilities of the industrial asset, informationindicating relationships (e.g., functional and/or geographicalrelationships) between the industrial asset and another industrialasset(s) in the industrial automation system, information indicatingcompatible platforms for the industrial asset, and/or other information.

At 1906, the pre-deployed model and/or other asset-related informationcan be analyzed. The model management component can analyze informationrelating to the pre-deployed model of the industrial asset and/or otherasset-related information received from the industrial asset or othersources (e.g., extrinsic sources) to facilitate modeling the industrialasset in the model of the industrial automation system.

At 1908, the model of the industrial automation system can be generatedor updated based at least in part on the pre-deployed model of theindustrial asset and/or the other asset-related information. The modelmanagement component can generate or update the model of the industrialautomation system based at least in part on the information relating tothe pre-deployed model of the industrial asset and/or the otherasset-related information to facilitate incorporating the pre-deployedmodel into the model of the industrial automation system.

FIG. 20 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 2000 that cantranslate configuration information relating to an industrial asset to aformat that is compatible with the industrial asset, in accordance withvarious implementations and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.The method 2000 can be implemented by a modeler system that can comprisea modeler component that can comprise a collection component, a datastore, and/or a model management component, etc. All or a desiredportion of the modeler system can reside in a cloud platform.

At 2002, information relating to a compatible format for configurationof an industrial asset of the industrial automation system can bereceived, for example, from the industrial asset or another source. Themodel management component can receive information relating to acompatible format for configuration of the industrial asset from theindustrial asset (e.g., via an associated cloud gateway device) oranother source (e.g., extrinsic source, such as the supplier ormanufacturer of the industrial asset). The information can compriseinformation indicating what format(s) (e.g., computer language or codeformat is supported, a manufacturer, type, or model of the industrialasset, a platform(s) (e.g., operational platform(s)) that is supportedby the industrial asset, and/or other format-related information.

At 2004, a compatible format for configuration of an industrial assetcan be determined. The model management component can analyze thereceived information relating to the compatible format for configurationof the industrial asset. Based at least in part on the analysis results,the model management component can determine or identify a compatibleformat for configuration of the industrial asset.

At 2006, configuration information relating to the industrial asset canbe retrieved from the data store (e.g., cloud-based data store), whereinthe retrieved configuration information can be in an agnostic ordifferent format from the compatible format determined for theindustrial asset. The model management component

At 2008, the configuration information in the agnostic or differentformat can be analyzed in relation to the compatible format for theindustrial asset. The model management component can analyze theretrieved configuration information in relation to the compatible formatfor the industrial asset to facilitate translating the configuration tothe compatible format.

At 2010, the configuration information can be translated from theagnostic or different format to the compatible format for the industrialasset based at least in part on the analysis results. The modelmanagement component can translate the configuration information fromthe agnostic or different format to the compatible format for theindustrial asset based at least in part on the analysis results.

At 2012, the configuration information in the compatible format can becommunicated to the industrial asset to facilitate configuration of theindustrial asset. The model management component can communicate theconfiguration information in the compatible format to the industrialasset in the industrial automation system. The industrial asset (e.g.,via the associated cloud gateway device) can receive the configurationinformation in the compatible format. The industrial asset can beconfigured (e.g., can configure itself) using the configurationinformation in the compatible format to facilitate desired operation ofthe industrial asset in the industrial automation system.

Embodiments, systems, and components described herein, as well asindustrial automation or control systems and industrial automationenvironments in which various aspects set forth in the subjectspecification can be carried out, can include computer or networkcomponents such as servers, clients, programmable logic controllers(PLCs), automation controllers, communications modules, mobilecomputers, wireless components, control components and so forth whichare capable of interacting across a network. Computers and serversinclude one or more processors—electronic integrated circuits thatperform logic operations employing electric signals—configured toexecute instructions stored in media such as random access memory (RAM),read only memory (ROM), a hard drives, as well as removable memorydevices, which can include memory sticks, memory cards, flash drives,external hard drives, and so on.

Similarly, the term PLC or automation controller as used herein caninclude functionality that can be shared across multiple components,systems, and/or networks. As an example, one or more PLCs or automationcontrollers can communicate and cooperate with various network devicesacross the network. This can include substantially any type of control,communications module, computer, Input/Output (I/O) device, sensor,actuator, and human machine interface (HMI) that communicate via thenetwork, which includes control, automation, and/or public networks. ThePLC or automation controller can also communicate to and control variousother devices such as I/O modules including analog, digital,programmed/intelligent I/O modules, other programmable controllers,communications modules, sensors, actuators, output devices, and thelike.

The network can include public networks such as the internet, intranets,and automation networks such as control and information protocol (CIP)networks including DeviceNet, ControlNet, and Ethernet/IP. Othernetworks include Ethernet, DH/DH+, Remote I/O, Fieldbus, Modbus,Profibus, CAN, wireless networks, serial protocols, and so forth. Inaddition, the network devices can include various possibilities(hardware and/or software components). These include components such asswitches with virtual local area network (VLAN) capability, LANs, WANs,proxies, gateways, routers, firewalls, virtual private network (VPN)devices, servers, clients, computers, configuration tools, monitoringtools, and/or other devices.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIGS. 21 and 22 as well as the following discussion areintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitableenvironment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject mattercan be implemented.

With reference to FIG. 21 , an example environment 2100 for implementingvarious aspects of the aforementioned subject matter includes a computer2112. The computer 2112 includes a processing unit 2114, a system memory2116, and a system bus 2118. The system bus 2118 couples systemcomponents including, but not limited to, the system memory 2116 to theprocessing unit 2114. The processing unit 2114 can be any of variousavailable processors. Multi-core microprocessors and othermultiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit2114.

The system bus 2118 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus orexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, 8-bit bus, IndustrialStandard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), ExtendedISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Universal Serial Bus (USB),Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association bus (PCMCIA), and Small Computer SystemsInterface (SCSI).

The system memory 2116 includes volatile memory 2120 and nonvolatilememory 2122. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines to transfer information between elements within the computer2112, such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory 2122. Byway of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory 2122 caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or flashmemory. Volatile memory 2120 includes random access memory (RAM), whichacts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), anddirect Rambus RAM (DRRAM).

Computer 2112 also includes removable/non-removable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. FIG. 21 illustrates, forexample a disk storage 2124. Disk storage 2124 includes, but is notlimited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive, tapedrive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-100 drive, flash memory card, or memorystick. In addition, disk storage 2124 can include storage mediaseparately or in combination with other storage media including, but notlimited to, an optical disk drive such as a compact disk ROM device(CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive (CD-RWDrive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitateconnection of the disk storage 2124 to the system bus 2118, a removableor non-removable interface is typically used such as interface 2126.

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 21 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and the basic computer resources described insuitable operating environment 2100. Such software includes an operatingsystem 2128. Operating system 2128, which can be stored on disk storage2124, acts to control and allocate resources of the computer 2112.System applications 2130 take advantage of the management of resourcesby operating system 2128 through program modules 2132 and program data2134 stored either in system memory 2116 or on disk storage 2124. It isto be appreciated that one or more embodiments of the subject disclosurecan be implemented with various operating systems or combinations ofoperating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer 2112 throughinput device(s) 2136. Input devices 2136 include, but are not limitedto, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad,keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TVtuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and thelike. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 2114through the system bus 2118 via interface port(s) 2138. Interfaceport(s) 2138 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, agame port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 2140 usesome of the same type of ports as input device(s) 2136. Thus, forexample, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer 2112, andto output information from computer 2112 to an output device 2140.Output adapters 2142 are provided to illustrate that there are someoutput devices 2140 like monitors, speakers, and printers, among otheroutput devices 2140, which require special adapters. The output adapters2142 include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and soundcards that provide a means of connection between the output device 2140and the system bus 2118. It should be noted that other devices and/orsystems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such asremote computer(s) 2144.

Computer 2112 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)2144. The remote computer(s) 2144 can be a personal computer, a server,a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance,a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to computer2112. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 2146 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 2144. Remote computer(s) 2144 islogically connected to computer 2112 through a network interface 2148and then physically connected via communication connection 2150. Networkinterface 2148 encompasses communication networks such as local-areanetworks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies includeFiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed DataInterface (CDDI), Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 and thelike. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-pointlinks, circuit switching networks like Integrated Services DigitalNetworks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, andDigital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s) 2150 refers to the hardware/softwareemployed to connect the network interface 2148 to the system bus 2118.While communication connection 2150 is shown for illustrative clarityinside computer 2112, it can also be external to computer 2112. Thehardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface 2148includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and externaltechnologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems,cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of a sample computing and/ornetworking environment 2200 with which the disclosed subject matter caninteract. The computing and/or networking environment 2200 can includeone or more clients 2202. The client(s) 2202 can be hardware and/orsoftware (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The computingand/or networking environment 2200 also can include one or more servers2204. The server(s) 2204 can also be hardware and/or software (e.g.,threads, processes, computing devices). The servers 2204 can housethreads to perform transformations by employing one or more embodimentsas described herein, for example. One possible communication between aclient 2202 and servers 2204 can be in the form of a data packet adaptedto be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The computingand/or networking environment 2200 can include a communication framework2206 that can be employed to facilitate communications between theclient(s) 2202 and the server(s) 2204. The client(s) 2202 are operablyconnected to one or more client data stores 2208 that can be employed tostore information local to the client(s) 2202. Similarly, the server(s)2204 are operably connected to one or more server data stores 2210 thatcan be employed to store information local to the servers 2204.

What has been described above includes examples of the disclosed subjectmatter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivablecombination of components or methods for purposes of describing thedisclosed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of thedisclosed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the disclosedsubject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

In particular and in regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components, devices, circuits, systems and the like, theterms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., a functional equivalent), even though not structurallyequivalent to the disclosed structure, which performs the function inthe herein illustrated exemplary aspects of the disclosed subjectmatter. In this regard, it will also be recognized that the disclosedsubject matter includes a system as well as a computer-readable mediumhaving computer-executable instructions for performing the acts and/orevents of the various methods of the disclosed subject matter.

In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosed subject mattermay have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalimplementations, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageousfor any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent thatthe terms “includes,” and “including” and variants thereof are used ineither the detailed description or the claims, these terms are intendedto be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

It is to be appreciated and understood that components (e.g., modelercomponent, model management component, virtualization component,collection component, communication device, information providercomponent, processor component, data store, etc.), as described withregard to a particular system or method, can include the same or similarfunctionality as respective components (e.g., respectively namedcomponents or similarly named components) as described with regard toother systems or methods disclosed herein.

In this application, the word “exemplary” is used to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the wordexemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

Various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as amethod, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programmingand/or engineering techniques. The term “article of manufacture” as usedherein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computerreadable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storagedevices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips...), opticaldisks [e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)...], smartcards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive...).

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a memory that storescomputer-executable components; and a processor, operatively coupled tothe memory, that executes the computer-executable components, thecomputer-executable components comprising: a collection componentconfigured to collect a set of industrial data from a first set ofdevices of a first industrial automation system or an extrinsic datasource; a modeler component configured to determine a modelrepresentative of a second industrial automation system, comprising asecond set of devices, based on a result of an analysis of the set ofindustrial data, wherein the modeler component is configured to simulateor emulate operation of the second industrial automation system,including simulation or emulation of operation of the second set ofdevices, based on application of operation data to the model, whereinthe modeler component is configured to generate simulated operationalresponse data indicative of an operational response of the secondindustrial automation system in response to application of the operationdata to the second industrial automation system, based on theapplication of the operation data to the model representative of thesecond industrial automation system, and wherein the modeler componentis configured to determine whether to implement the second industrialautomation system based on the simulated operational response data. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the model representative of the secondindustrial automation system is representative of a design of the secondindustrial automation system, including respective designs of respectivedevices of the second set of devices, and wherein the modeler componentis configured to determine whether to implement or modify the design ofthe second industrial automation system based on the simulatedoperational response data.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein, based onan analysis of the simulated operational response data, the modelercomponent is configured to determine whether a simulated performance ofthe model representative of the design of the second industrialautomation system satisfies a favorable performance criterion relatingto industrial automation system performance, to facilitate determiningwhether the second industrial automation system is expected to satisfythe defined favorable performance criterion, and to facilitatedetermining whether to implement or modify the design of the secondindustrial automation system.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein, inresponse to determining that the simulated performance satisfies thefavorable performance criterion, the modeler component is configured todetermine that the second industrial automation system is expected tosatisfy the favorable performance criterion, and determine that thedesign of the second industrial automation system is to be implemented.5. The system of claim 3, wherein, in response to determining that thesimulated performance does not satisfy the favorable performancecriterion, the modeler component is configured to determine that thesecond industrial automation system is not expected to satisfy thefavorable performance criterion, and determine that the design of thesecond industrial automation system is not to be implemented.
 6. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein, in response to determining that thesimulated performance does not satisfy the favorable performancecriterion, and based on analysis the set of industrial data or thesimulated operational response data, the modeler component is configuredto determine a modification that is able to be made to the model togenerate a modified model that is expected to result in a modifiedsimulation of the modified model that satisfies the favorableperformance criterion, and wherein the modification of the model isrepresentative of a corresponding modification to the design of thesecond industrial automation system.
 7. The system of claim 6, whereinthe modeler component is configured to simulate or emulate operation ofa modified second industrial automation system, comprising thecorresponding modification, based on application of the operation datato the modified model, wherein the modeler component is configured togenerate simulated modified operational response data indicative of amodified operational response of the modified second industrialautomation system in response to application of the operation data tothe modified second industrial automation system, based on theapplication of the operation data to the modified model representativeof the modified second industrial automation system, and wherein themodeler component is configured to determine whether to implement amodified design of the modified second industrial automation systembased on the simulated modified operational response data.
 8. The systemof claim 2, wherein the model is representative of respective functionsof the respective devices, respective characteristics of the respectivedevices, respective configurations of the respective devices, respectivelocations of the respective devices in the second industrial automationsystem, respective interrelationships between the respective devices inthe second industrial automation system, or respective processes of thesecond industrial automation system.
 9. The system of claim 1, whereinthe first industrial automation system comprises a first industrialdevice and a second industrial device, wherein, to facilitate thegeneration of the model, the set of industrial data comprises deviceidentification data received from the first industrial device, whereinthe device identification data identifies the first industrial device,the second industrial device, and a functional relationship and aconnection between the first industrial device and the second industrialdevice, and wherein the first industrial device detects and identifiesthe second industrial device in proximity to the first industrial deviceand the functional relationship and the connection between the firstindustrial device and the second industrial device, and generates atleast a portion of the device identification data that identifies thesecond industrial device and identifies the functional relationship andthe connection between the first industrial device and the secondindustrial device.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the second set ofdevices comprises a third industrial device and a fourth industrialdevice, wherein the third industrial device is same or substantially thesame as the first industrial device, and wherein the fourth industrialdevice is same or substantially the same as the second industrialdevice.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the model comprisesrespective modeled devices representative of respective devices of thesecond set of devices, wherein the operation data comprises controlsignal data relating to control signals or control commands applied to amodeled device of the respective modeled devices to simulate or emulateoperation of a device of the respective devices in response toapplication of the control signals or the control commands to thedevice.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of thecollection component, the modeler component, or a data store are part ofa cloud platform, wherein the computer-executable components furthercomprise an interface component configured to interface at least one ofthe collection component, the modeler component, or the data store ofthe cloud platform with the first industrial automation system via afirst cloud gateway component of the first industrial automation systemor with the second industrial automation system via a second cloudgateway component of the second industrial automation system, andwherein at least one of the collection component, the modeler component,or the data store is configured to receive a portion of the set ofindustrial data from the first industrial automation system via theinterface component.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the extrinsicdata source comprises at least one of an extrinsic data source device, asupplier or a manufacturer of a device of the first set of devices orthe second set of devices, a website or a server associated with anInternet or a communication network, or a user associated with anindustrial enterprise, the first industrial automation system, or thesecond industrial automation system.
 14. A method, comprising:determining, by a system comprising a processor, a model thatcorresponds to a second industrial automation system, comprising asecond set of devices, based on a result of analyzing a set ofindustrial data received from a first set of devices of a firstindustrial automation system or an extrinsic data source; simulating, bythe system, operation of the second industrial automation system,including simulating operation of the second set of devices, based onapplying operation data to the model; in response to the simulating,generating, by the system, simulated operational response data thatcorresponds to an operational response of the second industrialautomation system in response to applying the operation data to thesecond industrial automation system, based on the applying of theoperation data to the model corresponding to the second industrialautomation system; and determining, by the system, whether to implementor modify a design of the second industrial automation system based onthe simulated operational response data.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein the determining of the model comprises determining a secondmodel that corresponds to the second industrial automation system,comprising the second set of devices, based on the result of analyzingthe set of industrial data received from the first set of devices of thefirst industrial automation system, a first model that corresponds tothe first industrial automation system, and the extrinsic data source.16. The method of claim 14, wherein the model corresponds to respectivedesigns of respective devices of the second set of devices, respectivefunctions of the respective devices, respective attributes of orassociated with the respective devices, respective configurations of therespective devices, respective locations of the respective devices inthe second industrial automation system, respective interrelationshipsbetween the respective devices in the second industrial automationsystem, or respective processes of the second industrial automationsystem.
 17. The method of claim 14, further comprising: based onanalyzing the simulated operational response data, determining, by thesystem, whether a simulated performance of the model corresponding tothe design of the second industrial automation system satisfies afavorable performance criterion relating to industrial automation systemperformance, to facilitate determining whether the second industrialautomation system is expected to satisfy the defined favorableperformance criterion, and to facilitate determining whether toimplement the design of the second industrial automation system.
 18. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising: one of: in response todetermining that the simulated performance of the model satisfies thefavorable performance criterion, determining, by the system, that thesecond industrial automation system is expected to satisfy the favorableperformance criterion, and determining, by the system, that the designof the second industrial automation system is to be implemented; or inresponse to determining that the simulated performance does not satisfythe favorable performance criterion, determining, by the system, thatthe second industrial automation system is not expected to satisfy thefavorable performance criterion, determining, by the system, that thedesign of the second industrial automation system is not to beimplemented, and determining, by the system, whether a modelmodification to the model is expected to satisfy the defined favorableperformance criterion, wherein the model modification corresponds amodification of the design of the second industrial automation system.19. A machine-readable medium storing executable instructions that, inresponse to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to performoperations, comprising: determining a model that relates to a secondindustrial automation system, comprising a second set of devices, basedon a result of analyzing a set of industrial information obtained from afirst set of devices of a first industrial automation system or anextrinsic information source; simulating operation of the secondindustrial automation system, including simulating operation of thesecond set of devices, based on applying operation information to themodel; in response to the simulating, determining simulated operationalresponse data that relates to an operational response of the secondindustrial automation system in response to applying the operationinformation to the second industrial automation system based on theapplying of the operation information to the model relating to thesecond industrial automation system; and determining whether to utilizea design of the second industrial automation system based on thesimulated operational response information.
 20. The machine-readablemedium of claim 19, wherein the model relates to respective designs ofrespective devices of the second set of devices, respective functions ofthe respective devices, respective characteristics of or associated withthe respective devices, respective configurations of the respectivedevices, respective locations of the respective devices in the secondindustrial automation system, respective interrelationships between therespective devices in the second industrial automation system, orrespective processes of the second industrial automation system.